


Try Some Tenderness

by TheSpaceCoyote



Category: Borderlands, Tales from the Borderlands - Fandom
Genre: Alpha!Jack, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Fluff, Jack is nicer than usual, M/M, Omega!Rhys, Past Mpreg, Single Dad Rhys, featuring sweet love child Cyrus, so fricking fluffy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-30
Updated: 2018-01-18
Packaged: 2018-06-05 09:42:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 40,581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6699868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSpaceCoyote/pseuds/TheSpaceCoyote
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Despite his growing nerves, Rhys had made the decision to simply bring the child with him, after he had made Cyrus swear that he would be on his absolute best behavior, something that the child cheerfully agreed to, not quite understanding the situation.</p>
<p>And that was how Rhys ended up in such a high-powered business meeting—filled with other notables from the programming division, with Handsome Jack himself at the head of the table—with his five year old squirming on his legs."</p>
<p>---</p>
<p>Single dad omega Rhys brings his child to a meeting with Handsome Jack, with unexpected consequences.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> IDK I wanted to write something sweet and fluffy with Cyrus, in a different scenario than the fancy omega AU.
> 
> I've got so many AUs but OH WELL. Jack's unusually nice in this one, but it's already sugary fluff, so....
> 
> Might be continued with future installments, we shall see!

Rhys had never really thought that his life would turn out this way. 

He’d had it all set up from the moment he’d learned he was an omega—yeah, it would make things a bit harder, but he could do it even with instinct and biology throwing some curveballs his way. He was quick-witted and cunning when he needed to be, smart enough to land a programming degree with honors as well as a sweet, entry-level gig at Hyperion fresh out of college. Sex-crazed heats and slightly bigger hips weren’t much in the way of impediments to his goals. 

And sure, being an omega in the more cutthroat corporate world was a bit of a drag, but it had certain advantages that most other endotypes didn’t even bother to consider. Omega bodies were a desirable commodity, especially among the most scum-sucking, self-important alphas that tended to populate the highest reaches of Hyperion, and if Rhys had to play up downcast eyes and cants of hip and pursed, pouty lips to get what he wanted, then so be it. And he had gotten the added satisfaction of yanking the rug out from underneath any alphas who thought he was nothing more than a pretty face and a sweet ass and a head full of hot, hormonal air. 

Rhys’ old boyfriend had been a real shit-head of an alpha, smarmy and self-centered and smelling of acidic cologne, but if Rhys could shake his hips and maybe sway a promotion in his favor, then he didn’t mind that his boyfriend had no clue how to use his lop-sided knot, more often than not leaving Rhys to jerk himself off after the alpha had long fallen asleep. 

And it had worked, for awhile—Rhys would fuck the alpha in return for favors, desirable projects and deals passed over the heads of others and into Rhys’ greedy hands—until the creeping nausea in his gut and sudden waves of anxiety caused him to seek out a doctor, who dropped the _fortunate_ news on the stunned omega. His boyfriend had been less than pleased, which was understandable when it came to unexpected pregnancies, but Rhys hadn’t expected to be dropped like a sack of burning skag shit.  

“You know omegas get all fat and stupid when they’re knocked up.” His boyfriend had grimaced, skin tightening around a face puffed with plastic surgery as he had shooed Rhys away with a ringed hand. “It’s been fun Rhys, but uh, no thanks.”

And just like that, with an uncaring smirk and way of hand, all of Rhys’ progress and prospects were sucked out into space and blown off towards Elpis. He remembered that night distinctly, wiping his bleary eyes and digging into the biggest bowl of ice cream he could find while Vaughn rubbed his back. 

Pregnancy was supposed to be a wonderful time for omegas, but Rhys had found it difficult to enjoy without a mate by his side, with the worry over protecting and providing for a baby all on his own hanging heavy over his head. Seeing the first pixellated image of the child, finding out the gender, feeling the baby move against his palm—all these things that were supposed to be joyfully shared with one’s bonded partner instead made Rhys feel growing dread as he was reminded that the birth was drawing ever closer. Vaughn and Yvette helped as best as they could, but there had still been times where Rhys had laid awake in his bed alone, instincts craving nothing more than an alpha curled around him, kissing his neck and rubbing his stomach and feeling the new life move inside him. But Rhys hadn’t had that—instead he had whispered to himself to fill the silence, trying to ease his loneliness and anxiety by brainstorming names and plans and promises aloud to his unborn. As his due date grew nearer, a small space in his apartment had been cleared, Hyperion-yellow crib sparingly decorated with a couple of blue baby blankets and a small robot plush tucked near Rhys’ own bed in anticipation for the baby’s arrival. 

Despite his fears, Rhys had fallen in love with his child the moment the nurse had placed him in the exhausted omega’s arms. The child— _Cyrus_ , Rhys had chosen—had blinked up at his father with big, brown eyes, tiny hands grasping at the air as Rhys cuddled him against his chest. Kissing his small pink cheeks, promising him everything that Rhys could possibly give.

And the omega liked to think that in the past five years, he had lived up to that. He had worked his ass off to provide for his child while struggling to get back on track with his corporate ambitions—and sure, there were difficulties being an un-bonded omega with a baby, let alone one challenging the position of powerful alphas. Rhys had managed to survive and protect Cyrus despite many, many efforts towards the contrary from affronted co-workers and superiors trying to intimidate him both emotionally and, sometimes, physically—once even having to fight fang and claw to get a particularly thick-headed alpha away from his baby. The sight of Rhys with blood running down his mouth and a wild look in his eyes had been enough to deter any alphas away from messing with the omega for a long time after. 

Meanwhile, Cyrus had grown into a perfect little child, curious and kind and always ready to soothe Rhys’ worries with happy cuddles, excited ramblings, and scrawled pictures of robots. Rhys could hardly believe that such a sweet child had come from such a nasty _jerk_. Cyrus was playful and precocious where his father had been neglectful and knot-headed; comforting and careful where he had been cruel and callous. Most of all Cyrus believed that Rhys could do anything, barely any ideas of omega prejudice in his sweet little head, and sometimes Rhys needed that after a day of being beaten down by alphas who sneered at his scent and threatened his safety.  

But finally, after years of juggling a child while simultaneously trying to claw his way up the corporate spine, Rhys had done it—recently appointed to assistant director of Hyperion’s programming department, his first official board meeting soon scheduled with _Handsome Jack_ himself. Rhys was jittery, excited to _finally_ be getting the recognition and compensation that he so deserved. 

Still, his life didn’t seem to want to let up, even with his newfound success. Rhys had begged Yvette and Vaughn to babysit Cyrus for the meeting, but they were both locked into important arrangements of their own, and despite himself Rhys just didn’t _trust_ any of the babysitting agencies he had looked up. Cyrus was all that he had, and the offspring of un-bonded omegas were always in danger of being harmed by competing alphas wanting to bury their own seed, even in the modern Hyperion environment. So, despite his growing nerves, Rhys had made the decision to simply bring the child with him, after he had made Cyrus _swear_ that he would be on his absolute best behavior, something that the child cheerfully agreed to, not quite understanding the situation. 

And that was how Rhys ended up in such a high-powered business meeting—filled with other notables from the programming division, with Handsome Jack seated languid at the head of the table—with his five year old squirming on his legs

Everything was going fairly well so far, despite that. Cyrus was well-behaved, just quietly sitting in Rhys’ lap and playing with his Loaderbot toys. The omega had gotten some looks when he’d first brought the child into the meeting, and every once and awhile Cyrus’ soft play-pretend noises would get a bit loud, earning the pair some sidelong glances, but for the most part the child was polite, and none of the other project heads brought it up or tried to antagonize the omega.

That was, up until the point where Cyrus, busy fiddling with one of his Loaderbot toys, accidentally pressed the button on the robot’s arm, launching the foam missile with a plastic _click._ Rhys gasped and tried to stop it but it was far too late, and the omega could only watch helplessly as the bright yellow projectile soared over the table to the head chair, and—

And struck _Handsome Jack_ square in the middle of the forehead. 

Rhys gaped, the rest of the boardroom growing deadly silent. He watched his boss’s eyes widen in confusion, glancing about before focusing on the foam bullet falling harmlessly to the tabletop. A small, fearful noise left the omega’s lips as he clutched his child to his chest, his heart hammering. He trembled, knowing very well the CEO’s fearsome reputation, irascible temper and taste for violence towards those who slighted him. 

“Oops!” Rhys breath stammered in his chest as Cyrus spoke, blithely unaware of just how much danger he had put them both in.“Sorry Mr. Handsome Sir!” The child smiled and stretched out his pudgy little hand towards the still stunned CEO as Rhys watched, mortified. 

Oh god. He was dead. His baby was dead. In a few minutes they would both be nothing more than suffocated corpses in the vacuum of space, he just knew it. An apology stuttered on the omega’s lips, unable to get past them as thoughts of himself and Cyrus being horribly murdered by Jack swarmed in his head. 

But instead of ordering the omega and his child air-locked, Jack picked up the foam projectile, pinching it between two fingers, before shooting Cyrus a grin.

“Damn, kiddo. That was a dead-eye shot.” Jack chuckled, squeezing the elastic missile before letting it pop back to its original shape. “Tell ya, not too many people are brave enough to take a shot at Handsome Jack, let alone aim for the face. What’s your name, buddy?”

“Cyrus!” The child chirped before Rhys could quiet him, wiggling in the omega’s lap as he beamed at Jack. “And this is my mom, Rhys!”

“Cyrus and Rhys, huh?” Jack raised an eyebrow and looked at Rhys directly for the first time since the meeting began, making the omega shiver in fear and—maybe—the slightest bit of excitement at having the apex alpha noticing him. “Tell me, kiddo, your mom usually bring you to meetings like this?”

“No! He usually has Uncle Vaughn or Auntie Yvette babysit me but they were busy. It’s kind of really boring but I have my toys so it’s okay I guess.” Cyrus shrugged, tapping the little robots in his hands against the desk. 

“No kidding. Those are some sweet toys you got there, buddy.” Jack pinched the foam bullet between his fingers, feigning a throw a couple of times before tossing it over to Cyrus, the boy reaching out and catching it with both hands. Jack shot the kid a quick thumbs up before leaning his chin in hand, completely ignoring every once else in the meeting room aside from Rhys and his child. 

“Kiddo, you ever seen _real_ Loaderbots? Those are some neat toys, but the real thing is even more badass.” 

Cyrus wiggled happily, his face glowing at the thought of real, actual robots. 

“No Mr. Handsome Sir! I bet they’re really cool and like a bajillion feet tall!” Cyrus threw his hands up, trying to measure just how _big_ he thought the robots were. 

“Damn right, kid. You wanna see some right now?” Jack pushed his chair away from the table, sauntering around the table to where the omega and his son sat. “These eggheads have nothing to tell me that I don’t already know. Your mom can come too.” Jack gave Rhys a smirking wink, making the omega wilt and feel hot in the cheeks. 

“But sir,” one of the assistant project leads, a blond-haired beta, dared to speak up, “what about the proposal? We still need you to approve the—” Jack shot her a withering look, and she shrunk against her chair. 

“What, what what what, it’s fine, go ahead and do it, _there_. You have my ‘approval.’ You all need me to pat you on the ass and stamp it on your forehead or something?” Jack scowled, hands resting on the back of Rhys’ chair. The omega shivered at the close proximity of the alpha, while Cyrus blithely bounced in his lap,  neck craning to look around at Jack. 

“Can we really see _real_ Loaderbots, Mr. Handsome Sir? No kidding?” Jack chuckled, spinning around Rhys’ chair to face the omega and his child fully. Rhys squirmed back into his chair, his boss’ scent and sudden attention quite overwhelming. 

“Sure thing, bud. Anything to get out of here.” Before Rhys could stop him, or insist that no, they didn’t need to skip out on business just to show Cyrus some robots, his child was giggling and grasping at the CEO’s large hand. Rhys gasped as he felt the child wiggle out of his grasp and hop out of his lap, eagerly cuddling up to  Jack’s thigh. Rhys lunged for his child, finding Cyrus’ other hand and squeezing it protectively.

“S-Sir, really, it’s not necessary, you don’t need to stop the meeting just to—“ Rhys stammered out, but Jack was already striding out of the meeting room with Cyrus happily toddling beside him, so he had no choice but to follow them, shooting apologetic looks at the remaining bewildered and annoyed project heads before the door clipped shut behind him. 

Rhys trailed behind the two of them as they walked through the halls of Helios, trying to hold on to Cyrus’ hand even as the child raced forward, trying to keep pace with Jack. Rhys still wasn’t _entirely_ sure that this wasn’t some elaborate ruse, that the CEO wasn’t leading the two of them to their gruesome deaths. He squeezed the boy’s tiny hand, ready to place himself between his boss and his child if Jack tried to hurt him. Not that it would do much good in the long run, but still. 

Yet Jack didn’t lay a violent hand on Cyrus, didn’t draw a gun on either of them or strangle Rhys with his own tie for daring to bring a child into the meeting. He led them exactly where he said he would, and soon the three of them were standing in one of the many spacious Loaderbot hangars, bright artificial lighting illuminating the ranks of robots in various stages of activation or repair. Rhys squeezed Cyrus’ hand, trying to stay the boy’s excited energy at seeing the huge robots, though he was losing the battle against the combined energy of both his son _and_ his boss. 

“Wow! There’s like a billion of them!”

“There sure are, buddy, billions and billions. The best heroes gotta have the biggest armies around. You wanna talk to one of ‘em?”

“Yes, Mr. Handsome Sir!”

“Hey Loaderbot, why don’t you come on down and say hi to the kiddo?” Jack commanded, snapping his fingers at the closest robot. Rhys anxiously grasped Cyrus’ hand as the robot’s single eye flicked down at Cyrus, moving to pull him close as the Loaderbot crouched down with a metallic crunch, but Cyrus slipped out of his grasp, happily tottering towards the robot even as his father called after him. Cyrus let out an awed squeal, his tiny hands reaching up to grasp on one of the Loaderbot’s huge fingers. 

“This is so cool! Mom, look!” Cyrus giggled as he tucked his legs up, hanging from the finger and shooting his father a happy grin. Rhys balked, arms uncrossing as he started towards his son.

“Cyrus, _no_ , get down from there!” Rhys started, but was halted by a large hand pressed against his chest. Rhys swallowed as his eyes flit up to his boss. Jack gave him a charming wink and a light pat on the chest that made the omega’s heart somersault. 

“Chill, cupcake, let the kid have some fun. No need to get your panties in a twist, _mommy_.” Rhys bit back a retort, embarrassment rising in his face at hearing his boss call him “mommy.” He _really_ needed to work on breaking Cyrus out of that habit. It was all Vaughn’s fault for making too many stupid “mom” jokes around when Cyrus was still an infant. Rhys worried his lips and crossed his arms, shying a little bit away from Jack’s touch as he watched his son touch back down against the ground, only to climb up and sit onto a large robotic palm offered to him. 

“W-What if he falls?” Rhys fidgeted as he watched his son being carefully lifted by the robot, his happy laughs and the Loaderbot’s static replies echoing throughout the hangar. 

“He ain’t gonna fall, pumpkin. If he does, I’ll catch him.” He shot Rhys a winning smile and a quick finger gun. “That’s what heroes, do, right?” Rhys blushed, shivering under the man’s smirk. 

“Mom, hey mom look at me!” Cyrus interrupted and laughed as he hung his upper body over the edge of the Loaderbot’s palm, arms dangling, sending Rhys an upside down wave and nearly giving his father another heart attack. 

Thankfully, after hanging off of several Loaderbots and fielding his random questions to the hapless mechs, Cyrus grew tired, his tiny fists rubbing at his eyes as he yawned, one of the robot’s placing him gingerly on the ground at the boy’s sleepy request. Rhys saw his opportunity and scooped the child up, quieting the boy’s fussing and whining with a couple of soft kisses and promise of ice cream back at home. 

“Can’t Mr. Handsome come with us?” Cyrus pouted, looking from his father to Jack pleadingly. Rhys sighed, preening the boy’s hair with one hand as he shot his boss an apologetic look. 

“No, Cyrus, he’s a very busy man, and we’ve already taken up so much of his time…” Cyrus frowned, but flopped his head against his father’s shoulder, too exhausted to put up much of a fight. Rhys shifted the boy in his arms, letting Cyrus weigh against his chest as he looked sheepishly at Jack. His boss returned the look with a strange expression that Rhys had never seen before—admittedly, most of his mental images of Jack consisted of propaganda posters that unilaterally depicted the man as charming, confident, ruthless—but still. Jack was appraising Rhys, features oddly considerate and careful with a slight furrow of brow. It made Rhys’ face flush, and he quickly looked away. 

“I’m…I’m really sorry, sir. About all this.” Rhys stammered, any further apologies cut off as his boss suddenly stepped closer, Rhys eyes snapping back up to Jack’s face with the abrupt proximity. He watched as Jack’s eyes roved over Cyrus’ relaxed form, small smile worming onto his lips. 

“Don’t be. The kid is great.” The affectionate grin that crossed Rhys face turned into a gasp not a second later, when his boss’s breath ghosted warm against his neck, Jack’s scent suddenly too close and too hot and enough to make the omega’s brain short out. 

“And you’re not half bad yourself, kitten.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any guesses as to who Rhys' asshole ex-boyfriend is?


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to make an attempt to turn this into a semi-long fic. Only planning for it to be around 7 chapters but...people seem to like this AU, and I want to challenge myself by writing something longer.

The next day after the meeting, Rhys had found a printout advertisement for a local daycare not-so-subtlely placed on his desk. The omega had scowled, glaring around and wondering who exactly had the balls to do something like that. Apparently, someone somewhere had an issue with what had happened with Cyrus in the boardroom. They weren’t exactly wrong—it had been embarrassing for the omega to have the important meeting cut short for the sake of showing his son some robots—but the slip of paper felt like a slight at his parenting, which did not sit well with him. 

He stewed over the paper for the rest of the day, eyes darting to it as he tried to focus on his job. Vaughn had agreed to take care of Cyrus today so Rhys could get some work done, but the omega knew that a situation like yesterday’s was bound to happen again if he didn’t come up with a solution. He sighed, rubbing his temples, staring at the contact information printed out on the flyer. Maybe not daycare, but Cyrus  _was_  getting older and Rhys couldn’t really keep up on schooling the kid himself with all the added responsibilities that came with his new promotion. 

Rhys did some cursory work on his new project, before pushing it to the back burner, spending the rest of his shift diligently researching every last preschool on Helios that he could find.

* * *

Vaughn had offered to take him out to dinner, which the omega agreed to heartily, his lunch of a squashed sandwich and soda leaving Rhys’ stomach empty and growling. He met them in the Hub of Heroism, greeting Cyrus with a quick kiss, lifting the boy into his arms as they made their way over to one of Rhys’ favorite cafes. In due time Cyrus was sucking down a blueberry lemonade, happily kicking his feet and coloring one of the kids menus as they waited for their food. It was always a relief when the omega got to hang out with his friends, however briefly. It was one of the few times where he felt he could genuinely relax and not have to think about projects and deadlines and alphas that still sneered at his hard work. He listened as Vaughn relayed what he and Cyrus had done today, the child piping up every once and awhile to insert his own commentary. Rhys smiled to himself, settling in and feeling comfortable as he enjoyed the presence of his best friend and his son. Vaughn told him how they’d been working on Cyrus’ addition and subtraction tables, before falling into an awkward silence, fiddling with his water glass. 

“So um, hey, Cyrus was telling me about what happened yesterday…”

“Oh yeah.  _That_.” Rhys let out a nervous laugh. “Seriously, I didn’t think I was going to make it out of that room alive.”

“No kidding. I mean, _jeez_ …” Vaughn looked as if he couldn’t decide on being horrified or amused. “He hit Jack,  _Handsome Jack_ , in the face?” 

“Mr. Handsome said I was a….I was a d-dead shot!” Cyrus chirped up, still blissfully unaware of the anxiety he had put his father through yesterday. So far Rhys had spared him most of Jack’s….bloodier reputation. Scooping out eyes with a spoon, breaking peoples’ necks with bare hands—that wasn’t really the kind of thing you told a child. So Cyrus carried on blithely accepting Jack as the awesome hero who  _always_  beat the bad guys. 

“It was kind of weird, no lie. I mean? I was almost expecting to get murdered, and the fact that it didn’t happen was just…” Rhys shrugs, picking off little pieces of the complementary bread to hand to Cyrus as the boy took a break from his coloring. “It was  _really_  weird, but I mean, it was kind of nice, and then he…” Rhys trailed off, his cheeks growing pink. He looked away as Vaughn raised an eyebrow. 

“ _Okaaaay_ , I feel like there’s something you’re not telling me but…I don’t think I really wanna know.” The beta eyed his friend with slight suspicion. “I’d be careful if I were you, bro. I know you’re like, obsessed with Jack and all, but the guy’s crazy.” 

“I mean, I don’t think…it’s not like that…”

“Bro, you’ve read his autobiography. You’re like, the only person I know who did…”

“To be fair, it’s mostly full of dick jokes and pictures of himself…and  _some_  murder stories, I guess…” Rhys mumbled, swirling his water around in his glass. “But that’s not…if he wanted to kill me, wouldn’t he have just put a bullet in my head at the meeting?” 

“I guess, but Rhys…I dunno, just be safe? He’s an alpha. Like,  _the_  alpha.” The beta gestured firmly, trying to get his point across.  

“Okay, fine. Bro, he’s probably not going to even  _remember_  what happened yesterday.” Rhys commented as their food was brought to them. Rhys helped Cyrus cut up his chicken tenders before tucking into his own burger, the meal a grateful relief to his growling stomach.

Once their food was finished, he made idle conversation with Vaughn for a few more minutes before splitting, the beta offering to cover the bill if Rhys grabbed the tip. He’d sat back, amused as Vaughn guided Cyrus through adding up the tip to the total. The boy didn’t seem to fully understand, but still watched curiously as the accountant scrawled out the numbers. 

They soon parted ways, Rhys deciding to treat his son to some frozen yogurt before taking him back home. As he sat with the boy in the brightly colored seats, a fully ladened cup with two blue spoons sticking out of it between them, Rhys realized that the menu from the cafe was still clutched and winkled in the boy’s hands. 

“What’d you draw, Cy?” Rhys peered over, the amused smile on his face quickly turning to surprise as he deciphered just exactly what Cyrus had scrawled on the paper in waxy, primary colors. He recognized the way that Cyrus drew himself  and Rhys, the way the kid paid special attention to Rhys’ arm in big, blocky yellow shapes. But standing close to the drawing of Rhys was another stick figure, with mismatched dots for eyes and swooping hair, the hand that wasn’t grabbing a boxy gun attached to sketch Rhys’ torso line. Rhys’ eyes darted furtively to his son, who smiled way too innocently for someone who had colored the sketched Rhys’ face with a bright red blush. 

“Cyrus…who is that?” Rhys tapped on the paper, raising an eyebrow at his boy, who only smiled through a mouthful of blueberry yogurt.

“It’s Mr. Handsome! I was gonna draw a Loaderbot too but my yellow crayon broke and then I wanted to eat my nuggets.”

“Uh  _huh_.” Rhys scanned the picture again, feeling blush rise up on his cheeks. “And um….what is ‘Mr. Handsome’ doing uh. With his hand on me?”

“Oh. Well I know how much you like Mr. Handsome! You got your special closet with all the pictures of him.” Rhys went even redder at that, shushing his son and glancing around, embarrassed. Cyrus frowned at the quieting, but continued, lowering his voice. 

“I was just thinking…Mr. Handsome showed me the Loaderbots and you think he’s neat so maybe he could be my new dad…” Cyrus mumbled as he stirred the sprinkles into his yogurt, giving his father a small smile. 

Rhys didn’t know whether to feel even more embarrassed or sad at the little hopeful tone in Cyrus voice. The boy’s father had absolutely no contact with his son—had never expressed the desire to know his child, and frankly Rhys was fine with that. He didn’t need for Cyrus to think he wasn’t wanted and loved, and he knew the boy’s father would do nothing but hurt him. And yet…

Maybe Cyrus did want a dad, and hell Rhys wouldn’t object to having some extra help. But Handsome Jack? That was just…. _nah_. Not going to happen. Not in a million years. 

“Sweetie…Cyrus.” Rhys sighed, placing his cybernetic hand on the back of the boy’s chair. “He’s a….Mr. Handsome is  _very_  busy, he doesn’t really have the time to be a dad.” He tried to place it delicately, but nothing could stop the slightly crestfallen look in the boy’s eyes that made Rhys’ heart hurt. 

“Oh. Okay.” Cyrus glumly poked at his frozen yogurt until it was mostly melted, at which point Rhys decided to clear away the table and take the boy home. Cyrus stayed quiet, his little hand held firmly within Rhys’ own as the omega guided him back to their apartment. The boy was still silent as Rhys helped him brush his teeth, though the boy insisted on putting on his own pajamas. Rhys tutted at the hole apparent in the boy’s clothing—Cyrus tended to chew and suck on his sleeves during the night, and his arm made it difficult to properly mend such things. He needed an upgrade—just another thing to add to the list of things that he needed to buy with spare income he just didn’t have right now. He was still waiting on the first paycheck after his promotion, hoping that with that he could buy everything that he’d been putting off for months.  

* * *

Cyrus had been more receptive to the idea of preschool than Rhys had thought, and though the omega was scared to trust his baby in the arms of strangers, Cyrus was enjoying interacting with other kids and learning more and more. Rhys loved to pick the boy up after school, sitting him on his lap at home while Cyrus babbled happily about his day.

With Cyrus being cared for, it was easier for Rhys to focus on the projects piling up at work. With his worry over his child eased slightly after meeting Cyrus sweet omega teacher, he could free up his mind and be more productive at his new job. He was feeling more confident than ever before, his life finally seeming to gel together into something stable. 

The next meeting with Jack went far smoother, though the CEO was as distracted and nonchalant as ever, and seemed to be stealing looks in Rhys’ direction even when the omega wasn’t speaking, which surprised him. He brushed it off, thinking that he must just be imagining things, but then Jack had approached him after the meeting, catching the omega’s wrist in hand in a way that made Rhys’ heart flutter. He’d never noticed before just how… _big_  the alpha’s hands were, distracted by the way his fingers pressed into the omega’s skinny wrist and barely hearing what Jack said to him.

“W-What? Sorry, sir, I…”

“I said, where’s the kiddo? You didn’t bring him this time?” Rhys raised both eyebrows at the question, surprised. Did Jack really expect him to bring his son after the fiasco last time?

“Um…he’s at preschool, sir.” Rhys tugged lightly at Jack’s grip on his wrist, feeling awkward. The smell of the alpha was doing things to his brain, and he’d rather be out of Jack’s reach and heading to pick up his son. 

“Preschool? What do they have that the boardroom doesn’t?” Jack let out a small snicker, finally releasing the omega’s wrist. Rhys flushed, holding his hand against his chest and looking at the alpha warily. Did Jack stop him just to make fun of him? The omega let a small, sour pout cross his lips, giving Jack a cursory goodbye before quickly hurrying out of the room. 

Every time he and the other project heads had a meeting with Jack, the alpha always managed to find a way to corner Rhys in the aftermath as the others were filing out. Rhys would always stand stock still, feeling frozen and awkward as Jack asked odd questions—usually about Cyrus, what his favorite foods were, what clothes did he like to wear, and so on. Rhys didn’t quite understand what motives Jack had, what he was plotting. Jack didn’t do things out of casual interest, Rhys knew that, he always had some sort of scheme or plan running under his actions. 

If Jack had tried coming on to him more forcefully, a continuation of the little, flirty moment they’d had in the Loaderbot hangar, Rhys would understand more—Jack was an alpha, after all, an  _alpha’s_  alpha, and he’d understand if instincts were driving his actions but aside from a couple idle touches to his forearm and wrist Jack hadn’t tried anything untoward. 

Needless to say, he was confused as to exactly  _what_  his boss wanted with him. 

* * *

Rhys was perplexed when a mysterious packaged, addressed to him and Cyrus, was left outside his apartment door the day after one of his meetings.

The omega wasn’t expecting anything, hadn’t ordered anything, even checking his purchase history from his ECHOeye as he surveyed the package now sitting on his dining room table. Cyrus was seated next to it, little hands patting and fiddling with the sticky tape coming off at the edges, pestering Rhys to open it and the omega trying to stay his child’s excitement until he could determine if it was actually _safe_. 

There was no return address, merely two Hyperion stamps, which only frustrated the omega further. Maybe if he could narrow down the part of Helios, or the department that it came from he could figure out if it was safe to open or not, because there was no dearth of alphas who wanted to do both him and his baby harm.  

The fact that the package was also addressed to Cyrus was strange, sending off small alarm bells in Rhys’ head, but really if this was some kind of incendiary or poison meant to kill the two of them, then why would they bother to write Cyrus’ name on the label? That seemed oddly….personal. 

Finally, Rhys decided to just open the damn thing, cutting open the tape with his claws and ripping open the flaps as Cyrus watched, standing in his seat and peering over. The packaged revealed a thickly folded square of fabric, with a note in Hyperion letterhead seated at the top. Rhys felt pink rise to his cheeks as he scanned over the crimson scrawl which read— _For you and the kiddo, -HJ._  Cyrus let out a shocked gasp, clapping his hands to his face when Rhys pulled out a pair of fleece pajamas, patterned in gray and yellow and white with a little red circle on the soft hood. 

“It’s a Loaderbot!” Cyrus squealed, accepting the gift from Rhys’ and running his little fingers over the expertly stitched garment. His chubby cheeks grew with his grin as he looked at his father, who was still blushing. 

“It’s from Mr. Handsome isn’t it?” Cyrus giggled, unzipping the pajamas and slowly starting to pull them on, wiggling his hands through the armholes. Rhys heart was beating a little faster as he scoured the rest of the packaging, surprised to find there was something else at the bottom—a single matte envelope, closed tackily with a sparkly unicorn sticker, specifically addressed, this time, to Rhys. 

Rhys opened the envelope as Cyrus zipped up his pajamas, pulling out the glossy, half-folded piece of card stock inside. His heart leapt in his throat, the blush in his cheeks instantly deepening to a dark red as he hastily pressed the paper to his throat before Cyrus could see. Luckily, the boy was too fascinated with his new pajamas to notice as the omega quickly hid it inside his vest. Rhys swallowed roughly, the image and the cheeky, loopy red message that had been written on it burned into his head. 

_A little something for you too, cupcake._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this is good u-u I feel like it's not, I'm really nervous about doing longer fic but. Thank you for reading in any case.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I hope everyone is enjoying things so far. I appreciate the feedback. Admittedly, the second chapter wasn't exactly my strongest, however I feel a lot better about this upcoming one. Trying to introduce more of the central conflict and be more accurate in writing the characters and setting. Practice makes perfect!
> 
> This chapter is less Rhack-y than the previous ones and the ones to come, but it's crucial to developing other conflicts. c: So, I hope you like it!
> 
> Some warnings for mention of a not so healthy relationship, body image issues, and prejudicial language against omegas.

Rhys’ newfound promotion had come with  _quite_  the substantiated pay, and as soon as the first check was deposited into Rhys’ account, the omega set about buying just about everything that he could think of that he’d been putting off for himself and Cyrus. The two of them got new wardrobes, and perhaps more pairs of matching socks than anyone could wear in a lifetime. Cyrus got the latest, most-tricked out Loaderbot toys and a brand new bed with matching duvets to replace the old twin mattress that he’d had since he was still in diapers. Rhys even had his cybernetics upgraded—expanding the database storage of his ECHOeye to include scent cues and hormone levels, and getting a brand new, gold-chrome finish on his arm that made him feel classy and dangerous and displayed his new-found status in a, frankly,  _awesome_  splendor. Rhys felt flushed with wealth and pride as he’d watched his small apartment fill with brand new furniture and clothing and appliances, mind already skipping to upgrading their space to something bigger and more lavish than what they had now. 

Yvette had offered to help put together Cyrus’ new bed, smirking that he definitely needed an alpha’s hand in orienting the heavy bed frame and headboard. Rhys could have probably managed, especially with the updated lifting power and grip strength he’d  paid handsomely for, but it had been awhile since he and Yvette had had some alone time, so he agreed after consenting to order in lunch for the both of them. 

They’d managed to wrestle together the bed frame before deciding to take a break, digging into the fresh Aquatorian cuisine Rhys had ordered for delivery. The omega swallowed down spoonful after spoonful of exotic, slow-cooked meat and rice, feeling full and satisfied with the work they had accomplished thus far. 

He’d forgotten how good of a team he and Yvette made—sure, they were missing their third man today, Vaughn caught up in crunching the numbers for an ammunition deal, but the two of them could have their own fun and work together in tandem even without him. Also, having another thick scent to fill the room and play up on his more subliminal instincts was always nice.  

Having an alpha as one of his closest friends had helped more than Rhys could’ve ever anticipated. Yvette had the attitude and social clout to stand up to other alphas trying to push Rhys or Vaughn around, covering them in the woodsy scent that discouraged leering men and women from stalking after her friends. Yvette had even offered to bond with Rhys back when he was pregnant with Cyrus, to make things easier on him—as well as elevate her own social status. Bonded alphas were regarded as valued protectors and providers and respected and rewarded as such, she had explained to him. Ultimately, it had been a nice gesture, but Rhys had been too worried about ruining their friendship by making things too weird. The idea of  _bonding_  had somehow been more terrifying than the idea of a solitary pregnancy, of raising a baby alone—and truth be told, Rhys was still somewhat nervous about the whole idea. He really didn’t want to give an inch of control up to anyone, in fear of losing a mile. 

Yvette scraped the bottom of her takeout bowl, setting it aside before fishing for bits of Rhys’ meat with a curious fork. A playful growl escaped Rhys lips, but he let her steal pieces of his food and chew them with relish. 

“ _Sooo_ , You-Know-Who has been talking about you again lately.”

Rhys grimaced to himself. He knew exactly who Yvette was referring to. After all, she worked under him now—honestly, he wanted to swing by and visit her more often, but he couldn’t risk running into that. It had happened a few times over the past five years, and every time Rhys had left the encounter feeling either sick to his stomach or humiliated. 

“Oh,  _great_. What’s he saying about me now?”

Yvette shrugged, chewing through a mouthful of food. 

“The usual asshole alpha crap. Been railing a lot against un-bonded omegas recently, so of course your name just  _happened_  to pop up. You know how it is.”

“Do I.” Rhys huffed, setting down his food and crossing his arms. “I can’t  _wait_  until I get promoted above that jerk. I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to die happy once that happens.” A devious grin wormed its way onto the omega’s face. “But only after I make him pay for everything he put me through.”

“Considering he slashed my bonus last quarter to pay for another car….nothing’s too good for him.” Yvette matched his smile, eyes glittering behind her glasses.  

“How does eridium miner sounds? Or how about making him a test subject for hair care products? Or elemental SMGs?” Rhys giggled malevolently, his mind working through all of the torment he could put that asshole through. 

“Or make him work under omegas for a living. That will  _really_  make his head spin.” Yvette tittered, holding her hand up to her mouth.

“God, could you imagine? Being ordered around by omegas. I’d want to see that.” The giddy malevolence inside of the omega bubbled at the thought of his ex-boyfriend having to cater to the very endotype he’d always mocked. “Oooh oh, maybe even have to help them with pregnancy. Though he’d gotten out of it, huh?  _Not_.” Oh yes, as soon as Rhys was the boss he was going to humiliate the shit out of that jerk, and then some. He sipped at his soda with a smirk. 

“I can’t imagine any omega wanting that slimeball to be around their kids.” Yvette made a disgusted face. “I’m pretty sure his cologne alone is toxic to anyone under the age of two.” 

She held up her fingers, making a cheeky, scissoring motion. “Maybe if you chop off his knot he’ll actually be tolerable.” 

“ _Ewww_. I don’t want to think about his knot.” Rhys shuddered. “My standards were waaaay too low.”

“Wasn’t it lop-sided?” Yvette snickered.

“God. Yvette, I’m telling you, it looked like a potato. Not even like a normal one, nah, like some freaky Pandoran potato.”

Even after five years, dragging his ex-boyfriend was still a favorite pastime of Rhys’. In fact, it had become even more gratifying lately, considering the omega’s change in status. With the way he was climbing up the corporate ladder now, heading new projects, currying the favor of Handsome Jack himself—it was only a matter of time before he squashed his ex and showed him the consequences for daring to count Rhys out of the picture. 

Him and Yvette had finished putting the bed together by the late afternoon, the omega going to wake Cyrus from where his was napping in Rhys’ bed so he could see the fruits of their labor. The happy squeals that the child gave at the sight of the big, yellow headboard and matching sheets and the brand new robot plush laying against a squadron of soft pillows made the omega swell with pride. 

Oh yeah. He could get used to this, and  _more_.  

* * *

Rhys had finished his day’s work early, deciding to run some errands before picking up Cyrus from preschool. That was one of the perks of his new promotion—sure, there were still people above him craving results as well as deadlines to keep, but he held a little leeway with respect to his own hours, no longer having to work well into the evening in order to tear even a shred of recognition from among his coworkers. 

He did some shopping for himself and Cyrus, buying the boy a new red and yellow hoodie as well as a pair of pants and matching waistcoat that the omega had been eyeing the previous week. The clothing shaped to his curves perfectly, showing them off while maintaining the professional and crisp look that he wanted. There was no point in hiding his endotype while others could smell the thick of his scent, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t put effort into  _looking_  the part of the badass corporate leader. Dress for the job you want, after all. 

He still ending up arriving at Cyrus’ preschool early. His head was busy with plans for dinner and games to play with his son once they got back home as he entered the building through the front office, making a beeline for the restroom, needing to relieve himself after the creamy iced coffee he’d sucked down during his shopping trip.

The bathrooms weren’t restricted by endotype, but it was deserted apart from the omega. His heeled boots clipped against the tile as he walked into the stall to relieve himself. He heard the creak of the door opening, but paid it little mind as the shadow of feet crossed harmlessly underneath the bottom of the plastic wall into the stall next to him. Rhys was still occupied with his evening’s plans as he exited, washing his hands in the sink when a sudden, encroaching smell made him perk up, his ECHOeye activating and zeroing in on the scent. Alarmed, he whirled around, nearly running into the sudden bulk that made its presence known in the omega’s personal space. Rhys gasped, hand flying up only to be caught in a thick, sweaty grip. Rhys felt a growl pull at his lips, struggling as he was held in place by an all too familiar hand, a hand that he’d never wanted on him again. A cool ring pressed against the pulse beating through his wrist. Memories whistled through Rhys’ head, before settling heavily in his stomach. The omega swallowed thickly, glaring at the man looking down at him with an amused smirk. 

Rhys found himself wishing he were  _anywhere_ , anywhere on Helios other than where he was in this moment. Hell, he’d almost rather be dropped right in the middle of a bloody Pandoran skirmish. Anywhere but pinned between a bathroom sink and the bulky frame of his ex-boyfriend. 

“What are you doing here,  _Vasquez_?” Rhys hissed, narrowing his eyes and pulling his wrists against the alpha’s sturdy grip. 

“Ouch, Rhys.” Vasquez put a mocking palm over his chest. “I’m pretty sure we’re on a first name basis now, what with all we’ve been through together.”

“Together?” Rhys laughed, finally wrenching his hand away from the alpha’s grasp. “Please. You don’t know the meaning of that word.”

“Still mouthing off as usual, huh? Considering how many hormones run through that little brain of yours, it’s amazing you still haven’t been properly conditioned.” Rhys felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, shivering at the contempt dripping from the man’s voice. He knew many alphas held such ideas about omegas, but very few vocalized them with the degree of disdain that his ex-boyfriend did. 

“Someone’s been reading too many posts on the AlphaActivism subnet, huh?” Rhys scowled, backing up away from the man until his lower back pressed against the cool rim of the sink. “What do you want? What the hell are you even doing here, Vasquez? I seem to recall that you aren’t exactly fond of kids.” The omega spat, cybernetic fist clenching. Oh, it was tempting to just clock the man in the face and leave him bleeding on the bathroom floor for some poor teacher to find. Maybe crush that stupid cybernetic pinkie while he was at it. Anything to wipe that smug, infantilizing look off of Vasquez’s face as he looked Rhys over. The omega swatted away the alpha’s hand when it tried to creep onto Rhys’ waist, being sure to smack him with his metal fingers. Vasquez’s eye roved up the omega’s form, lip slightly curling into a disgusted sneer. 

“Ew. You’ve gotten fat.” Rhys gaped at the man, feeling his skin crawl. What was this? 

“What the hell? You corner me in the bathroom at my  _kid’s preschool,_  just to insult me?” Rhys shoved Vasquez’s hand into his chest, leaning so far back against the sink that his spine was beginning to hurt. “That’s way too much effort for you. I know that you get off on insulting me, but really.” His ECHOeye whirred, scanning the hormone levels and body language of the alpha in front of him, trying to decipher exactly why he was here. 

“Oh what, is it a crime to want to catch up with an old fling? It’s been years since we’ve spoken properly. I thought it might be nice to see what you’ve been up to.”

“If you’re looking for a quickie, then you can fuck right off. I’m not doing  _anything_ with you, let alone at my kid’s school.”

“Eh, I don’t need to paw through damaged goods just to get my knot wet, Rhys, but thanks for the thought.”  Vasquez shrugged, and tried to take Rhys’ chin in hand, but the omega jerked back, shooting him a death glare. 

“Just wanted to check in and see how you’re doing. Don’t see you much any more. Wanted to know how your little plan to run Hyperion is going. Or have you given up that to play mommy to a crying brat?”

“So you  _did_  come here just to insult me.” Rhys snorted, rolling his eyes. “Don’t you have paperwork to stamp?” 

“Oh, you make an idiot out of yourself well enough on your own. You don’t need my help with that. I was just thinking that maybe if you needed a little…well, _leg up_. We could work something out. Help you look like less of a careless slut, what with the kid and all.”

_That_  made Rhys’ blood boil. After everything,  _everything_  that Vasquez had put him through, here he was—cornering Rhys, expecting him to fall for his cheap scent and stupid suits and slicked back hair like Rhys had slag for brains. 

“I’m doing fine enough on my own, thank you. Maybe you haven’t heard with your head shoved so far up your ass, but we’re making  _huge_  leaps forward in cybernetics, and it’s because of  _me_.” The omega retorted smugly, pointing a thumb at his chest. 

“I can buy things you never even bothered to get me, I can provide for the kid that you didn’t even want, I can do it all on my own and I don’t need you,  _he_  doesn’t need you.” Rhys spat, words drenched in venom and anger. It felt so damn good to reject Vasquez, all the words that had been building up for five years now coming out, even if it couldn’t possibly measure up to how the alpha had made him feel. Sure, he had seen the man from time to time since Cyrus birth, but he’d never had the opportunity to lay into Vasquez the way he had always dreamed of. He was emboldened by his recent successes, flushed with new prosperity and confidence and he wanted to  _show_  the alpha. That despite everything, Rhys was still  _winning_. 

However, the vindication he felt at seeing the taken-aback expression on Vasquez’s face faltered as the alpha’s mouth grew into a huge grin, before exploding into cruel, taunting laugher. Even going so far as to wipe a fake tear from his eyes and mockingly “flick” it in Rhys’ direction. The omega steeled himself even as the laugh trembled through his body, determined not to feel small under the alpha’s chuckling bulk. 

“Oh god. Do you even listen to yourself, how dumb you sound? Hah! So you’re pulling in a couple more bucks each week by playing with other people’s toys. You think that means anything? Ah, cute, Rhys. Really cute.” Vasquez sighed, simpering like he was talking to a child. “You haven’t changed much at all. Still as naive as you used to be.”

“I’m not naive.” Rhys insisted, gaze sharpening at the alpha that was getting way, way too close. “You’re just too thick-headed to realize that alphas aren’t as special as you think. That not everyone needs you guys.”

“Oh, Hyperion needs me, Rhys. It need me a hell of a lot more than it needs a little programmer who thinks he’s hot-shit just because he was given a couple of plans to mess around with.” Vasquez clucked his tongue. “People like me? We can farm around anywhere we’d like and drag up  _sooo_  many omegas just like you—delusional enough to try to escape what they’re  _meant_ to do.”

Rhys jolted at that, his mouth opening to repudiate the liquid shit coming out of Vasquez’s mouth, but the alpha interrupted him, raising his voice whenever Rhys tried to speak up. 

“Don’t forget. First, alpha. Next, beta. Last,  _omega_. Rhys. That’s how it is, and that’s how it’s always going to be. So how about you stop pretending that you’re worth anything more than the rest of them. Especially now that you’ve popped out a kid.” Vasquez growled, backing Rhys further against the sink, his thighs nearly brushing against the omega’s. Rhys’ hands clenching into the porcelain rim, a slight crack forming underneath his metallic grip. 

“You’re—you’re  _wrong_.” Rhys stuttered, trying to steel himself against the alpha’s encroaching presence, his acidic cologne an ugly mix with his noisome scent. “Why should I listen to you, anyway? You’re just another stupid alpha with more bark than bite.”

“Uh- _huh_. If I’m a stupid alpha, then how come I head my own department? How come I _still_  make double your salary? If I’m a stupid alpha, then what does that make you?“ Vasquez prodded the omega square in the chest. “Stop fighting it, Rhys. I bet even your friends are just waiting for you to drop this stupid act. It’s just, uh,  _sad_.”

Underneath his spiked instincts at the closeness of the offensive alpha, Rhys felt himself crumble slightly at the the words as Vasquez scavenged his insecurities. It brought back a flashbulb of memories of his relationship with the man—every time he’d had his body picked at, his hips pinched and meals taken away from him. The single heat he’d spent with Vasquez had been full of half-remembered mockery and unsatisfied urges and near dehydration and rough bruises left along his jaw and throat and then his face once Rhys complained. It brought back the late nights where Rhys had contemplated closing his cybernetic fingers over Vasquez throat and squeezing until the alpha stopped moving. 

Rhys realized his muscles were clenched, teeth gritted tightly together as he shook at the flood of memories brought on by the man, by the haze of his stench and his touch. He tore himself out of the stymied fog as soon as he felt the alpha’s ringed hands again return to his hips, Rhys’ gaze snapping back up to those smarmy, predatory eyes that regarded him with such contempt. He stopped both of his hands against the alpha’s chest, firmly preventing him from getting any closer. 

“No. I’m..I’m done talking to you.  _Don’t_  follow me.” Rhys hissed, finally shoving away from Vasquez and stalking out the bathroom. He wanted nothing more than to grab Cyrus and go, get the alpha off of his heels and take a long, hot shower to get that stifling scent off of him. 

“ _Rhys_ , kitty, come on.” Vasquez called after him, the alpha striding after Rhys even as the omega quickened his pace, practically jogging back to Cyrus’ classroom. He could soon see his son standing amongst the crowd of children filing out of the door, being picked up into their parents arms, the rest under the watchful eye of the kind omega teacher. Rhys hurried to Cyrus’ side, scooping him up and holding him close. Cyrus cheered happily at seeing his mom and snuggled against Rhys’ neck, only to freeze and let out a confused noise at the alpha rushing up behind his parent. Vasquez stopped only a few feet from Rhys, slowing down as the omega picked up his son and curled protectively around him. Rhys watched him warily, posture even more guarded now that his child was involved. 

“Who’s _that_?” Cyrus furrowed his brow, tiny hands clutching into Rhys’ shirt at the presence of the strange alpha. Vasquez raised his eyebrows in surprise before a cruel, amused grin spread across his face. 

“You’re kidding. Oh wow. He doesn’t know?” 

“Hugo,  _don’t._ ” Rhys hissed, pressing a kiss into Cyrus’ brow. His instincts told him to run, to flee the threatening alpha’s presence now that he had the child in his arms, but his ego told him to stay put, to stand up to this asshole once and for all. Besides, Vasquez had followed him here from the bathroom, what was going to stop him from stalking Rhys back to his home?

“He doesn’t…Oh my god. You’re precious, Rhys, precious.” Vasquez pinched the bridge of his nose, laughing as he shook his head. “You haven’t even told the kid I’m his dad.”

Rhys froze, eyes widening in horror as his head snapped up, staring angrily at the alpha.

“I _said_ , don’t.” Rhys hissed, feeling his hackles rise, body curling instinctively further around Cyrus. He felt the boy respond to his body language, tiny hands tightening their grip on Rhys as he shied away from the stranger. He rested his chin on Cyrus’ head, shielding the child against his neck. 

“Don’t be selfish, Rhys. I think after this long, Daddy’s earned some one on one time. Let me hold the kid.” Vasquez reached towards Cyrus, thick fingers nearly brushing the child’s confused face. 

Rhys  _snapped._  He bared his teeth and let out a wild, warning snarl as he nearly bit Vasquez’s hand. The sharp  _clack_  of the omega’s teeth was enough for the alpha to pull back, eyes widening at the sudden display of dominance. Rhys’ chest heaved in rage, arms tight around Cyrus, holding the boy as far away from the alpha as he could manage. 

“You touch him again, and you’re going to need a new hand to go with that stupid pinkie.” Rhys growled, canines fully unsheathed, pupils constricted as he stared daggers into the surprised alpha. Rhys could hear the sounds of children breaking into cries behind him, the other preschoolers and undoubtedly their parents alarmed by the sudden commotion between the two men, but the omega ignored them. His instincts frothed, wanting nothing more than to get this alpha away from his baby. 

Vasquez glanced around furtively, feeling the eyes of the other children and their parents on him. Rhys watched him, anxious and on-edge, ready to strike in response to whatever Vasquez was planning. Adrenaline trembled through the omega, his body coiled up as he watched the alpha falter, biting his lip and lowering his hand.  

Vasquez wilted, muttering something under his breath before stalking off down the hallway, a slight scamper to his steps as he fled. Rhys glared after him, only relaxing slightly when he disappeared around a corner and his scent left the quick inhales in the omega’s nose. He quickly replaced the disappearing scent with that of Cyrus,’ burying his face into the child’s hair and breathing in deeply. 

Rhys ended up apologizing profusely to Cyrus’ teacher, but the woman only seemed concerned with making sure he and his son were both all right. Another omega’s touch was a soothing balm to his nerves, Rhys gradually calming down as the teacher had them both sit inside of the classroom long after the other children had gone. She left a comforting, fruity scent clinging to Rhys and Cyrus once the omega decided that he was ready to make the walk back to the apartment, feeling substantially more relieved after hearing her promise to call security if Vasquez ever showed up on the premises again. Soon, the omega was carrying his son out of the school, rumpled shopping bag hanging off the crook of his elbow as he quickly made his way back to the apartment. His ECHOeye was activated the entire time, the migraine he was sure to get from running it constantly well worth making sure that no one coming close to Vasquez’s scent-markers was following him and his son. 

“Mom?” Cyrus suddenly broached, looking curiously up at his parent. “That….that guy wasn’t my really my dad, right?”

Rhys stopped in his tracks, letting the other Hyperion workers bustle by him. He worried his lips, looking down at his boy’s wide, innocent eyes. Cyrus’  mouth was bunched in a confused little frown, almost looking  _concerned_  at the prospect. Rhys forced a soft smile on to his lips and brushed back Cyrus hair, kissing his forehead. 

“Of course not, sweetie.” 

“Oh. Good, cause he smells bad and didn’t seem very nice and I want Mr. Jack to be my dad anyway.” A smile blossomed across Cyrus’ face, the boy relieved as he snuggled back into Rhys’ chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Most of you guessed who Cyrus' father would be...and believe me, guys, this isn't the last we're going to see of him. :)


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure this chapter is as strong as the last one, but I figured out a major plot point that I'm going to work with that I'm feeling very strongly about, so....hopefully that will give you guys something to look forward to. <3

Rhys only picked at his dinner the night after his encounter with Vasquez, pushing some extra green beans onto Cyrus plate to the boy’s displeasure before storing the rest in the fridge. He tried packing it away in some tupperware for his work lunch the next day, but the sight of the leftovers only churned his stomach, as did the hot meal provided to himself and the other cybernetic project leads. Rhys didn’t know why, but every time he looked at food or even  _smelled_ food, strange emotions overwhelmed him. He almost felt  _guilty._

 _Stupid omega emotions_ , Rhys blamed. 

His appetite didn’t return the next day. Rhys went to work sleepy, managing to suck down a blended vanilla coffee so he could stay awake. He had a one-on-one meeting with Handsome Jack today, his first, and he didn’t want to screw that up. Even if Jack  _hadn’t_ tried to kill him or even lay a harmful hand on him despite his plentiful indiscretions so far. Still, Rhys was  _trying_ to be professional. The meeting with Vasquez made him even more determined to prove his worth to his peers and superiors. There was no way in _hell_  that Rhys was going to let that smug asshole feel validated in his disdain towards omegas. 

But being in Jack’s office was a far different experience than sitting in a board-room with a dozen or so other people. Rhys had never been inside it before, and the extravagance and intimacy of the space didn’t pass the omega’s notice. Every inch of the place spoke to Jack’s power and position from the yawning window shining in the glow of Elpis to the elevated plateau crowned with the man’s desk, and awe thrummed through the omega’s already jittery body as he approached. He had initially kept a respectable distance away from the alpha as he rattled off progress on the latest development on cybernetic hearts, the project moving smoothly despite a slight design error in the pulmonary valve. But Jack had crooked his finger, inviting the omega closer with a sarcastic bark, and Rhys had stuttered in his presentation and moved forward and up until he was mere inches from the alpha’s desk. 

The smell of the man was overwhelming, draping over the floor and walls and window and desk, thick and heavy in Rhys’ nose as the omega took in deep breaths, trying to keep his calm as Jack appraised him with steely eyes. He had smelled Jack before, but his scent was sunk deep into the very material of his office, amber smoke and teakwood claustrophobic in the intimate space. It appealed to his most base instincts, fogging up his already clouded brain as he tried to keep coherent and focused to relay the information to Jack. 

“You’ve got a projected deadline for the prototype?” Jack pressed his finger against his lips, gazing up at Rhys as he drummed his other hand against the table. Rhys couldn’t help but shiver under the look, Jack’s smell and appearance and proximity not helping his preexisting dizziness. The alpha cut a powerful figured even just seated in his chair, silhouetted against the scarred moon rising in the window. 

Rhys’ tongue was starting to feel heavy in his mouth. He worked his lips stupidly, letting out a small mumble as he tried to arrange the words properly in his head, to get them from his brain down to his tongue. 

“Come on, Rhysie, talk to me, we don’t have all day.” The pet name registered vaguely to Rhys, but he tried to focus away from the strange endearment and his dizziness and focus on answering Jack’s question. The man had killed for less than stalling. 

But the colors in Jack’s office were getting fuzzy, the edges and lines blurring. Rhys could feel himself sway, stumbling as his legs tried to catch himself, but it was too late. He quickly lost his balance, pitching to the side until he felt himself thud against the solid floor. 

Rhys groaned weakly, trying to roll over from where he had fallen, tried to get back up but his head was so dizzy and his arms and legs felt weighted down. He briefly forget where he even was, his mind a jumble of pain and confusion jolted by the sound of rapid steps, before he felt his upper body being lifted up off of the floor. His eyelids fluttered, trying to focus on what was happening, what was being said to him. 

“Shit, you really hit the deck, huh? What’s the matter with you, princess?” Oh. Jack was talking to him. Jack was…holding him up. Rhys knew he should feel embarrassed, or scared for his life, but he was still so dizzy, too dizzy to do much of anything other than mumble and lay limp in the alpha’s arms. 

“H….” Rhys began, working his lips slowly. “H-hungry….” 

Rhys felt himself being laid back down against the ground again. He put his hand over his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose as he tried to will the dizziness away. He opened his mouth to let out a groan, only to find something salty and slightly stale being forced between his lips. The omega let out a confused noise at first, but then his brain registered that yes that was food, and he gratefully took it in. It was starchy and not as crunchy as he wanted, but god it reminded him of just how  _hungry_  he was. 

“Sorry, kiddo. They suck, but this is all I got.” He heard Jack mutter as Rhys removed his hand from his eyes, finding that the blurriness in his vision had started to bleed away. The CEO was arched over him, eyebrows knit downwards in…concern? Concerned Jack was a very strange thing to see indeed. 

“I really hope you remember to feed the kid, pumpkin, because you’re doing a shit job of takin’ care of yourself…” Rhys frowned, feeling a spike of annoyance rise up in him.

“No…I’m a… _good_ dad.” Rhys growled through a mouth of pretzel, before turning his head away from Jack with a pout. 

“Oh yeah? You ain’t gonna be if you keep conking out like that, pumpkin. C’mon. Up ya go, baby.” Jack patted Rhys’ shoulder, before helping the omega to his feet. Rhys whined, swaying before he felt Jack’s broad hands steady him. The omega cradled his face in his hands, shaking his head and trying to will away the dizziness that still threatened to lay him out again. 

“We’re gonna get some real food in you. No bitchin.’ Come on.” A warm, heavy forearm settled over the omega’s back, supporting him as Jack led the man out of his office. Rhys closed his eyes, temples still throbbing in pain as hunger gnawed in his belly. His feet wobbled as he was led blindly along by Jack, the unsteady solid of the floor the only thing grounding him besides Jack’s rough hand around his shoulders

“Where…we going..?” The omega muttered softly as he opened his eyes again, the bright hallway lights of Helios searing into his vision. Little flashing colors popped before his eyes as he struggled to focus on what was going on. 

“That fall knock your brain loose, Rhysie? We’re getting a bite to eat, before you bite the dust.”

He felt like he should’ve felt embarrassed by the fact that he was being half-led, half-carried through the Hub of Heroism by his boss. But the way that the people in the area gasped and parting around them, creating a clear path in front of the two men sent a thrum of interest through the hazy omega. He knew, realistically, that the show of awed—and probably terrified—fealty was because of Jack, and not him, but still. 

The cafe that Jack dragged him to was less ostentatious than Rhys would have imagined—its interior darker and more subdued than the majority of the other eateries and moderately busy. The omega host’s heart nearly leapt into his throat when he saw Jack approach, scrambling to clear two alphas mid-meal from the most elegant table in the place to eagerly seat Jack and Rhys. The omega sat shyly in the chair, fiddling with the menu as he pretended to scan the various specials, not sure what to say or do as Jack ordered for the two of them to the stunned waitress. 

Rhys was still fairly out of it, dazed both by his hunger and the earlier fainting spell, and the fact that Jack was taking him out to lunch. He could practically feel the eyes of everyone in the restaurant on him as he drifted, blushing softly as his mind wandered to all the Handsome Jack merchandise he had back in his apartment. Oh god, he was fanboy-ing right now, wasn’t he? Jack could tell, he had to. Rhys’ eyes fell to the tabletop, trying to look anywhere but the CEO sitting across from him, leaning his chin into his hand. 

Rhys was startled from his reverie by the  _clunk_  of a thick glass before him, a tall, bright pink smoothie with an elegant straw set right before him. 

“Drink up, kitten. It’ll help.” Jack slid the the glass closer towards him, raising his eyebrow, “I had them put all kinds of good shit for omegas in it.” Rhys glanced from the smoothie to Jack, feeling the blush rising even further on his face as he quietly sipped at the drink, grateful to have something to do other than stare at his hands and try not to think about the fact that he was sitting across from Jack outside of work, like they were something more than just boss and underling. 

“And the steak I ordered you is like, four hundred dollars, so don’t waste it.” The omega spluttered softly, some of the smoothie dribbling down his chin that he frantically tried to clean. And here Rhys was thinking that spending one hundred dollars on a meal for him and Cyrus was splurging. 

“S-Sir, you really don’t—“

“How many times do I gotta tell you to call me Jack? I know you just knocked out a million brain cells, but jeez, dum dum.” The CEO threw his hand over the back of his chair, shaking his head at Rhys. “Chill out, and let Jack spoil your pretty omega ass.” 

Rhys buried himself back into his drink after that, feeling the blush in his cheek rise up to his ears. He tried to focus on the taste of the smoothie and how nice it was to finally be able to fill his stomach, instead of dwelling on the fact that Jack had just called him  _pretty_. 

The omega shyly tucked a piece of hair behind his ear, the alpha’s attention making him feel warm as he gradually came out of his dizziness and hunger. He graciously ate the steak that was placed before him, despite the fact that it was bigger than his head and overladen with so many side dishes Rhys swore he could hear the table creak. Jack cleared his own plate before Rhys had even managed to get through a third of his. The omega wiped off his mouth and set down his fork, eyeing the reminder of the food with barely contained trepidation.  

“Seriously?” Jack huffed, rolling his eyes as he summoned the waiter over with a box to wrap up the leftovers of Rhys’ food. “You better not let that go to waste, cupcake. Give some to the kiddo, he’ll appreciate it.” 

The two of them soon stood outside of the cafe, Rhys cradling the ample takeaway box in his flesh arm as he rocked on his heels next to Jack. 

“Uh…thank you, sir?” Rhys broached, unsure of exactly how to respond to what Jack had done. The strangeness of the whole situation was starting to hit him fully—Jack had half-carried him through Helios, took him out to lunch, called him pretty. Rhys rubbed the hand of his cybernetic arm, shooting an unsure glance at the alpha. 

“No problem, kitten. You’re not gonna pass out again no, aren’t ya?” Rhys started slightly as Jack’s hand clapped against his shoulder, shuddering at the firm press of his hand as Jack grew closer. The alpha’s smell hadn’t left his nose since Rhys’ had entered the man’s office, the scent setting up shop in his brain like it had always meant to be there. 

“No, sir.  _Jack_.” Rhys corrected. He rubbed the back of his neck, unable to look away from Jack due to the alpha’s proximity. He inhaled quickly when Jack grabbed at Rhys’ cybernetic hand, turning the palm upwards. Before Rhys could fully register what was happening, a small piece of cardstock was place gingerly into his palm. His eyes flicked downwards to read the most ostentatious business card he had ever seen, bright yellow with shiny black letters and a lovingly detailed picture of Jack’s own face. 

“That’s a private number, sweetheart. If you ever need to talk business….or pleasure.” The alpha chuckled, fingers trailing along Rhys’ face and making the omega shudder, eyes fluttering shut for a moment before he realized what he was doing. Rhys jerked away from the alpha’s touch, tucking his chin into his chest as he moved away from Jack. 

“Okay? Um. Thank you.” Rhys mumbled, turning the card over in his fingers. “Do you need me for anything else, sir? I know we were kind of….in the middle of something…” Rhys felt like his words were turning into mush in his mouth as he stowed the card away in his vest pocket. 

“Nah. Don’t sweat it. Just go pick up the kid and take a day in, ‘kay?” Jack gave the omega a soft grin, something warm and intimate creeping for a brief moment onto the alpha’s face before he turned around and left Rhys standing amidst the crowded bustle of the Hub, watching the people part around Jack once against before the alpha disappeared. 

* * *

Cyrus made a big show about pressing his face into Rhys’ shirt and inhaling deeply as soon as he saw his mother, the omega startled as the boy pulled back with a happy smile on his face.

“You smell really good, mom!” Cyrus chirped, nuzzling against Rhys’ chest. He purred deep in his throat as the omega picked him up, rubbing the appealing scent all over his face. 

“Smells like Mr. Jack…” Cyrus gasped, pressing his hands to his cheeks. “Did you see Mr. Jack, mom?”

Rhys let out a nervous chuckle, smoothing Cyrus’ hair off of his forehead and kissing him above the brow. 

“We uh…we went to lunch together.” Rhys decided to leave out the entire fainting on Jack’s floor bit, knowing it would only make the boy fuss. 

Cyrus gasped again, wiggling happily in Rhys’ arms and clapping his hands excitedly on his mother’s chest. 

“You went on a date with Mr. Jack!” Rhys blushed deeply, which only bolstered Cyrus’ excitement. 

“It wasn’t a  _date_ , Cyrus, it was just business.” The omega lied, shifting his boy in his arms and trying to disregard the knowing, mischievous smile on his boy’s face. 

* * *

Rhys was busy getting ready, holding up two pairs of socks as he appraised them with a judgmental eye, when his ECHO buzzed with a number that Rhys didn’t recognize. However, he absolutely did recognize the projected display that popped up once he picked up the communication, the face of Handsome Jack materializing right before the half-dressed omega’s eyes, making the man yelp and jerk his arm in an attempt to hide the palm display, earning himself a guffaw from the alpha on the display

“ _Jack_! What are you…? Uh…” The omega glanced about furtively as he tugged a sheet from the bed over himself, not sure  _why_ Jack was calling him this early in the morning. Or, as a matter of fact, where the alpha even gotten his ECHO information. He hadn’t yet bothered to contact Jack through the card he had been given, but then again Jack was the CEO. He could probably get information on whatever employee he wanted, whenever he wanted. 

“Is something wrong?” Rhys questioned, suspicion curling in his stomach at the amused, self-satisfied look on the CEO’s face. He wished he could hide his face, knowing that the heat on his cheeks must be showing in a few clear blush before the alpha’s eyes. 

“Why don’t you tell me, kitten?” Jack’s lips quirked up in a barely contained smirk, his voice clearly struggling to hide his amusement. “You’re the one who sent me a message, after all.” Display Jack leaned on his palm, giving the omega a smarmy look. “You’re lucky you’re pretty, sugar, or else I’d have sent someone down to kill ya for interrupting my beauty sleep.”

“I..? No, I didn’t send any messages.” Rhys furrowed his brows, wracking his brain in confusion. He definitely hadn’t sent anything to Jack, he hadn’t even plugged the alpha’s contact information into his system yet. So how?

“Oh really? You might wanna check on that, princess…” Jack chuckled, wiping an imaginary tear away from his eye. “And maybe lock the systems on that pretty piece of tech of yours before going to bed, huh.” Rhys opened his mouth, about to ask what the hell Jack was talking about, when the communication cut out. Scowling and perplexed at the interaction, Rhys brought up the messages on his arm, scrolling up through them with his flesh hand until he found the most recent one. He scanned over it a few times, eyed widening in embarrassment as he realized what  _exactly_  had went on while he was asleep. 

“Misster Jack,” the message read, “its Rees. I think yur very handsum and wanna go onna date with yu pleez be cyrus is dad ok.”

Rhys instantly felt his face heat up, cheeks going bright red as the pieces of what had happened fell together. His socks lay forgotten on the floor, still only half-dressed as he stalked out of his room, scowling, out to where his son was blithely pouring himself some cereal. 

How many times had he told that boy not to play with his arm—!

“ _Cyrus_!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An edited note. Can y'all stop trying to defend me or whatever in the comments? I appreciate that you like the story but people are entitled to say what they want and I'm able to address things how I see fit on my own. Thank you.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope this update's not too late c: Anyway, I'm not totally sure on this chapter, it sort of feels fillerish to me but? There is some plot and relationship development, and I'm sure people will be happy with what happens c: Which is good, because next chapter.....next chapter is going to be a doozy. With a plot point I'm really excited for just for the fact that it's going to hurt ahah
> 
> Enjoy!

Rhys hadn’t been able to bring himself to be _too_ upset with the child over the message he had sent to Jack, though the omega had been sure to admonish him for using his system with out permission and reminding him against this his cybernetic were _not_ toys. He didn’t want the child to break any of the expensive pieces, or worse, get his fingers caught in the small gaps between the machinery. Cyrus had pouted outwardly, but the omega could tell that the child was fairly pleased with himself for sending Jack the message. 

The omega didn’t want to admit that maybe his kid’s little plan was starting to work. Rhys found himself thinking more about Jack—even more than he _usually did,_ which maybe should have scared him considering how much he obsessed over Jack on the daily. 

But this felt different than the interest that he’d had in Jack before. Jack had been his idol ever since he’d started working for Hyperion, gradually amassing his substantial collection of Jack related merchandise, collecting the man’s soundbites, even getting a shiny new Hyperion-bran cybernetic in order to prove his loyalty to the company and the man that headed it. 

But this was different. Ever since he had _actually_ met Jack in person, his feelings had evolved past mere idolization. That was still there, sure—he wasn’t about to discard any of the Jack merchandise that he had collected over the years—but now it was supplanted with something warmer, more intimate. 

Maybe it was foolish of Rhys to think that Jack was interested in something more than just a relationship between boss and underling, but—it seemed less farfetched than it had been at a glance when he mused over the way the CEO had been treating him ever since the first encounter with Cyrus and the trip to the Loaderbot hangar. The linger touches, the gifts and pictures, the suggestive comments and predatory glances—everything spoke of an alpha that was heavily interested in an omega. Rhys knew the signs, but the fact that it was coming from _Handsome Jack_ still made him flustered. 

It was only a few days after the incident with the message that Jack’s intentions were finally fixed and clear in the omega’s head. The CEO had again rung him up on his ECHO—making a comment on how, this time, Rhys was actually fully clothed and hadn’t had his systems breached by a kid. The cheeky, amused look that Jack had given him had made the omega blush, though not as much as he did once he registered what Jack had said _next_. 

“So, kitten, you’re making me think I haven’t really been uh…. _clear_ with what I want.”

“Excuse me?” Rhys raised his eyebrow.

“Shh, cupcake, just _listen_.” Rhys shut his mouth, still looking at the projection with the slight furrow of brow as Jack continued. “ _So_ , what I want. What a want is a date. Okay? How does that sound, pumpkin?”

Rhys froze, lips parting slightly in shock as he stared at the display in front of him, watching the image of Jack shift and flash slightly before him.

“Rhysie? Earth to Rhysie. Don’t stroke out on me, cupcake, I don’t wanna take a fuckin’ space case on a date.”

“I…sir, you want to…”

“Jack, _Jack_ , sweetheart, how many times do I gotta tell you?” Jack huffed, shooting the omega a petulant look. “So what’s it gonna be kitten? Yes?”

Rhys had to take a few more seconds to process this—the reality that yes, this was Jack, his boss, his _boss’s_ boss—asking him out on a date. The omega wet his lips quickly, before a small smile quirked at his lips.

“Yes, Jack.” That’ll all he manages to get out before the alpha cuts him off—which the omega is somewhat grateful for, because the shock at saying _yes_ to Jack’s request would have probably turned the rest of his words to mush in his mouth. It didn’t help that Jack smiled at his reply, wider than Rhys had ever seen him grin—enough bright fang to make the omega shiver. 

“Awesome. Meet me at Metéora at eight tomorrow night, ‘kay? See ya then, cupcake.” Jack purred, before ending the ECHO with a swift wink.

Rhys sat on the bed, hands in his lap, staring at the floor for a moment, before realization hit. Then he let out a noise so embarrassing, so fanboy-ish that he was glad nobody was around to hear it, not even his son. He grinned and hugged his hands to his chest, rolling against the sheets in his joy. 

* * *

The day leading up to his date with Jack passed with agonizing slowness, the omega’s mind occupied with the idea of again being alone with the powerful alpha in an intimate setting. Only this time, it wouldn’t be an impromptu, fainting-induced lunch, but rather an actual _formal_ date. A date in the classiest, most expensive restaurant in the entirety of Helios, reserved almost entirely for the topmost executives and board members, as well as Jack himself. The very thought made adrenaline course through the omega’s body as he clocked out of work, picked up Cyrus, and headed home to get ready for his date. 

Cyrus had insisted on helping, even finishing up his numbers homework early so he could sit on Rhys’ bed and do his best in terms of “coaching” his mother on the proper art of dating. 

“Cyrus, I can’t just dress in _all_ yellow.” Rhys sighed as he fussed through his wardrobe, trying to find an appropriate outfit to wear later that night. 

“Why not? It’s Mr. Jack’s favorite.” Cyrus retorted, kicking his legs as he tried to convince his mother that a butter yellow tie against a deep goldenrod shirt and the most garish pair of striped, yellow and black slacks that the omega owned was a good idea. Rhys liked the tie, and the slacks weren’t _awful_ , but he eschewed the dress shirt held up in Cyrus’ tiny hands for a charcoal grey one that balanced out the colors better.

“You _suuuuuuure_ you know what you’re doing?” Cyrus commented skeptically, fiddling with the buttons on the yellow shirt. 

“Yes, sweetie, I’ve been on dates before.” Though to be fair, it had been a _long_ time since Rhys had been on an actual date. Vasquez hadn’t really been the type to take Rhys out, preferring to keep the omega behind closed doors instead of flaunting him out in public. The only treats and excitement that Rhys had gotten from him was the rare satisfying fuck and the relief of not having to fake an orgasm. And the amount of dates that Rhys’ had had since Cyrus’ birth could be counted on one hand—and the hand of a Pandoran blast victim, at that. So maybe he was a little rusty, especially when it came to the whole romantic small talk thing. He wasn’t even sure what the hell he was going to talk about with Jack, considering how silent and awkward he had been when the CEO had taken him out to lunch days before. 

Cyrus was more than willing to provide him with ideas for what to say, though the boy’s concept of romance was…underdeveloped, to say the least. 

“Tell him he smells good! And that his hair is really neat! Oh, and that he’s the bestest, most awesome hero in the entire universe!” Cyrus grinned, throwing up his hands. Rhys shook his head at his child’s enthusiasm, sliding on a silky black waistcoat on over his dress shirt, fiddling with the golden buttons. It had been a long time since he’d put on such a fancy display—even going so far as to cinch the waistcoat in around his waist to accentuate his hips, and spray on a bit of cologne that complemented his natural scent. 

His hair was perfectly coiffed, skin soft and freshly washed as he lifted Cyrus up and settled the boy on his hip, moving him out to the kitchen where the mac and cheese was baking in the oven, alongside Cyrus’ favorite robot-shaped chicken nuggets. 

“Make sure you ask him to be my dad, okay?” Cyrus piped up as Rhys’ set him on the counter. Rhys frowned, shooting his boy a slightly frustrated look.

“Cyrus, I’ve talked to you about this,” the omega poured the boy some juice, sliding the plastic cup across the counter into his son’s little hands, “it’s not that simple. It’s just _one_ date.” 

He didn’t really like to be firm with his boy unless Cyrus was being naughty, but the boy just wouldn’t let up on the whole “dad” thing. Sure, he was attracted to Jack, and it was obvious that the alpha held some attraction for him—but it was still just _that_ , attraction. At this point in time, there wasn’t much indication of what Jack wanted beyond that point, and Rhys wasn’t about to push it and risk the newfound intimacy that he’d developed with the apex alpha.

“But _whhhyy,”_ Cyrus pouted up at his mom. “Why can’t you just ask him to be my dad? Does Mr. Jack not like me?”

Rhys sighed, cupping his boy’s little cheeks and trying to give him a gentle smile. 

“It’s just….it’s weird adult stuff, buddy. But I’m sure Mr. Jack likes you very much.” He patted the boy on the heat, lifting his son’s pout a little bit. 

Soon enough, the doorbell rang, indicating that Vaughn was here to take care of Cyrus for the night. The beta was still skeptical over the fact that Rhys had a date with Jack, but the omega tried to smooth out his fears, and assure him that everything would be _fine_. He deposited Cyrus in Vaughn’s arms, doing any last-minute primping and fussing with his outfit before he was ready to go. 

“You gotta make sure to kiss Mr. Jack, okay?” Cyrus piped up as Rhys opened the door to leave. “Like the movies. That’s how you know you did good!” The boy cheered, smiling encouragingly at his mother. Rhys returned it with a small smile, ruffling Cyrus’ hair. 

“Okay, Cyrus. Be good for Uncle Vaughn okay?” Rhys kissed his son on the forehead, before whisking out of the front door. 

* * *

Rhys heart hummed in his chest, in time with the vibrations of the elevator as it rose higher and higher, up into one of the highest possible reaches of Helios. Despite the fact that Rhys had been living here for years, there remained huge swaths of the space station that he’d never visited before. 

The elevator doors opened with a metallic _swoosh_ , greeting Rhys with the slightly dimmed, ornate front-of-house of the restaurant. He could see the hostess’ little booth standing at the entrance to the restaurant, which expanded off into the dining area, where the hushed clinks of plates and silverware could be heard. Rhys took a careful step forward, the elevator door closing behind him as he made his way over to the booth, unsure if whether or not Jack had already seated himself or not, when suddenly the brush of hot air wafted over the back of his neck, accompanied by a low, sultry voice. 

“Glad to see you didn’t keep me, waiting, cupcake.”

Rhys felt a shiver run up his spine, the hairs on the back of his neck standing straight up as he jolted, barely resisting the urge to whirl around or yelp in fear. Instead, he jerked his head to the side and nearly smacked Jack in the chin, the alpha pulling back slightly to chuckle before resting his head back against the omega’s shoulder. Rhys swallowed as he felt the alpha’s hands settle lightly on his hips. 

“I…where did you even _come_ from, Jack.” The omega was surprised at his sudden appearance, it didn’t quell the warmth that came nowadays when the alpha was close. Rhys couldn’t help the small, exhilarated smile that came onto his face as he placed his own hands above Jack’s on his hips and gave them a light squeeze. 

“At least buy me dinner, first.” He spoke without thinking, but Jack’s eyes widened in an amused look. 

“You’ve got a bit of a bite outside of work, don’t you?” The alpha chuckled, patting Rhys’ hips before stepping away from the omega and towards the interior of the restaurant. “I like it.”

Jack didn’t even bother with hostess, and the waiters carrying platters seemed to part like water around the man as he strode to the biggest, finest looking table with the best view of Elpis and the surrounding space in the house. Again, the feeling of people making way for not only Jack, but _Rhys_ as well, was making the omega feel emboldened and _powerful_ —just like it had in the Hub of Heroism, when he and the alpha had had their impromptu lunch. 

He sat across from Jack, barely being in his seat for a moment before the two glasses before him were inverted and filled with water and a deep, rich red wine. Rhys had barely opened his mouth to say _thank you_ or even catch a whiff of the waiter’s scent before they were gone. 

“They know what I like here. You want something else, fine, but they know to get their butts into gear as soon as I show up. Though I did say I was bringing a _guest_ , and if they fucked up on even the smallest bit of your order I’d toss them out the window myself.” Jack murmured as he took his own glass of wine and drank a cursory sip. Rhys followed his lead, taking quick drink of the wine—sweet and rich as he would expect such an expensive liquor to be. 

“You didn’t have to do that.”

“I know that. When you’re at the top, ‘have to’ gets sort of replaced by ‘want to.’ And I _wanted_ everything to be perfect.” The man hummed as he set his glass down, sending a winning smile in Rhys’ direction, as if he knew how much all this was really _doing it_ for the omega. 

“See, _this_ —“ Jack gestured to the restaurant around him, “this is much better. Than before, you know. And I don’t have you all woozy and starving and about to pass out.”

“I prefer it this way too,” Rhys chuckled softly, “fanciest restaurant in Helios, with a handsome, apex alpha sitting across from me…actually feeling _conscious._ ”  

“That’s right. I like having you awake to appreciate how _awesome_ I am.” 

And Rhys was absolutely glad that this time, he wasn’t distracted by his hunger or by the nasty words of his ex boyfriend. The thought of a date with Handsome Jack—a previously far-flung dream—had always sent butterflies fluttering in his stomach and flush rising to his cheeks, but now that thought had become reality, and Rhys was relishing every moment. Even the man’s ridiculous banter, pet names, and gory stories. He was pretty sure that Jack could read Hyperion’s accounting documents from beginning to end and Rhys would still find himself enthralled. He was so distracted that he didn’t notice until halfway through the dinner that Jack was _still_ wearing his yellow Hyperion sweater, having merely thrown a black and gold-detailed blazer over it. 

By the end of the date he was sated, not only with food and wine but also on the scent and sheer presence of the alpha before him. He felt utterly drunk on the man’s magnetism, eyes fluttering dreamily as he looked at Jack from across the table. All right, maybe he was drunk on a little more than just _Jack_. Especially when Jack grabbed at his hand and rose up, Rhys nearly stumbling as he got to his feet. 

“Come on, kitten, I know a shortcut.”

Rhys didn’t really know what they needed to take a shortcut _to_ , but Jack’s intentions became clear as he led Rhys out of the immediate area of the restaurant and down a short, softly lit hallway before it opened up into a large atrium dominated by large, gorgeous windows. Rhys gasped as he and Jack were bathed in the limited light of the room combined with the soft glow of Elpis—hanging massive and brilliant outside the panorama of windows. Everywhere Rhys turned, he saw nothing but endless space, stars and planets both near and far, blooming with purple and black and blue in patterns that Rhys had seen only in trips to and from Helios, and in the ephemeral glances through the occasional space window on other parts of the space station. 

Jack stopped in the center, letting Rhys walk a little in front of him as he stood proudly, grinning as the omega looked around at the surroundings. 

“I’m gonna take a guess that you’ve never seen a view like this before, cupcake.” Rhys could only shake his head at the sight, sending the man an incredulous look. 

“You really know how to charm an omega, don’t you?” Rhys chuckled breathlessly, still in awe of the view surrounding him on all sides. “Some of your employees could learn a thing or two.”

“Probably. But even if they did, you know they wouldn’t hold a candle to me,” the alpha chuckled, sliding up next to Rhys and settling his hand on the omega’s hip. 

“Gotta say though…I’m glad none of those other knot heads were able to snap you up before I got a chance to take a whack at you.” Jack hummed against Rhys’ ear, pressing his nose behind the shell and inhaling deeply. Rhys couldn’t help but lean into the man’s touch, trembling slightly as he felt Jack exhale against his skin, covering Rhys in his scent. The omega’s heart fluttered, his eyelids flicking in time with the pulse of his blood. 

“Hate to break it to you Jack, but….someone else _did_ kind of beat you to it…” He joked weakly. His stomach fell as he felt Jack stiffen, wondering if that was the wrong thing to say, to allude to his ex. He opened his mouth to apologize, only for Jack’s lowered voice to stop him in his tracks. 

“No…sweetheart. _No_.”

Rhys turned his head, leaning slightly against Jack’s shoulder. They were so close, so much closer than they had ever been before. The illumination surrounding them on all sides, the proximity—it all helped him notice details of Jack’s appearance that he’d never noticed before. 

He saw the slight sheen of Jack’s mask, in the contrast to the roughened, matte texture of the skin of his throat and forehead. He saw the little nicks in the hinges on the man’s face, furrowed with dark flecks that had escaped Jack’s careful notice. He saw the different shades of color in the man’s irises, certain hues glimmering in the light of the moon and others deep and dark and speaking of secrets that Rhys not dare uncover yet. 

Standing here, looking out over the round globe of Elpis and beyond, into the infinity of space with the most powerful man in the galaxy standing at his side, attention focused on _him_ and him alone—Rhys felt a surge of _power_ rush through him. 

He didn’t want to let this go. 

Rhys closed the distance between himself and Jack, the alpha meeting him that last couple of inches to press their mouths together. He could feel it, feel the raw power coursing through the alpha as his jaw and lips worked against Rhys’ own, carnal in its reminder of how strong the man really was. 

He turned in the alpha’s strong arms, facing the man more full as he pressed against him, their chests and hearts meeting in the tandem of their lips. He felt Jack’s hands clench into the fabric of his waistcoat, bunching it up underneath his fingers as he pulled Rhys closer to him. Rhys hands rested on the man’s chest up until Jack started to deepen the kiss, prompting the omega to cradle the alpha’s face, tilting his own so that Jack could press his tongue deeper, tangling it with the younger man’s and leaving him breathless. 

Jack pulled back when a low moan escaped Rhys’ lips, chucking as he rhythmically rubbed at the curve of the omega’s back underneath his clothing. Rhys blushed, realizing he was starting to get hot and maybe just the slightest bit _wet_ from being this close to Jack, from getting the daylights kissed out of him by the alpha’s powerful mouth. 

“Jumping a lil’ ahead of the gun, aren’t we Rhysie?” 

“H-Hey, it’s not my fault you’ve got a great mouth…” The omega mumbled, dizzy grin quirking at his cheeks, “I’d be disappointed if kissing you _didn’t_ give me a boner…”

“You really are a sassy little thing outside of business, huh,” a smirk pinched at the corners of Jack’s smile, “I think I _like_ it a lot.”

Rhys stayed quiet, breathing heavily as Jack appraised him, lips hovering close but not against pressing to the omega’s. He was wondering he he should lean forward and clear those last few inches, before Jack spoke. 

“While I would really _really_ love to pop your Handsome Jack cherry right now, sweetheart,” Jack hummed as his finger pressed against the omega’s chin, “I don’t want anyone else seeing you like this but me, sugar. Killing some peepin’ Tom might kill the mood, y’know?”

Rhys nearly let out a whine when Jack took a step back, increasing the space between them and depriving Rhys of the alpha’s warmth and friction. The fingers remained at his chin, however, stroking thoughtfully over his skin. 

“Don’t worry too bad, cupcake. I give you permission to jerk off to the idea after you get back home.”

Rhys managed to bite back “I already _do_ ” and instead just nodded, smiling dazedly as he leaned up to press his lips against Jack one last time—chaste and simple, but with the promise of something more lingering behind it as the omega and the alpha parted ways. 

Cyrus would be happy to hear that he had, indeed, kissed Jack. Just like in the movies.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 'Sup kiddos. I was unusually productive last night and managed to bang out this chapter.....
> 
> It's a bad one, oof. Lots of plot related points, angst and just.....if you don't hate Vasquez after this, then idk what. 
> 
> Some warnings for allusions to an abusive/unhealthy relationships.

Rhys was riding on cloud nine from his date with Jack for a good couple of days after the fact. Almost every moment that he wasn’t focused on work, he was thinking about the firm touch of the man’s hands, the gleam in his eyes, the feelings of his lips working against Rhys’ own. Sometimes it even distracted him from work, the omega falling into delighted daydreams when he was supposed to be coordinating engineers on the new cybernetic organ prototype. It was difficult to focus when all he could think about was the next time he could get Jack alone like that, but he couldn’t complain too much. Thinking of Jack just made him feel too  _nice_. 

His good mood was ruined, however, with a ECHO from Yvette one evening. 

Rhys was sitting at home on the couch in a ratty old T-shirt and a pair of boxers after putting Cyrus to bed, sipping at a glass of wine and idling looking through Hyperion furniture catalogues on his palm display. He raised his eyebrows slightly when the call came in, not expecting Yvette to be calling him this late, but he answered it nevertheless. What she said, however, soured his mood and thoroughly ruined the quiet, Jack-daydream filled evening that he had been having. 

“You-Know-Who, he’s been talking about you again. But not like last time. Real…. _nasty_ , unpleasant stuff.” Yvette visibly shuddered, which piqued at Rhys’ concern and prompted anxiety to build in the pit of his stomach.

“What…what do you mean by nasty stuff? Like just….sexual things, and all that?” He didn’t like thinking about that. Weren’t there plenty of other omegas out there that Vasquez could have if he wanted? Unpleasant as the alpha was, surely there were  _some_ omegas who would be interested in him, if only to use him to climb the corporate ladder. Rhys had been praying for anything, any _one_  to get the alpha to stop this  _weird_  obsession over him that had been kickstarted recently. 

“Yeah. I mean, before he would bring you up as his ex and stuff, make fun of you and things like that but….lately it’s been getting really creepy.”

Rhys fidgeted with the blanket in his lap, drawing it around his shoulders as if to shield himself. There were countless steel corridors and at least a couple of vertical miles between him and the alpha, but suddenly Rhys felt _incredibly_  vulnerable.

“Dare I ask….how creepy?”

Yvette frowned at him, eyes sympathetic. 

“Talking to his alpha buddies about how much he wants you. That maybe after couple of weeks at the gym and an attitude adjustment, you’d make a great wife,” the alpha continued, though she looked as if every word coming from her mouth was covered in slime. “He….he talked about how the next time he found you, he was just going to….grab you and bite down on your neck. Make you  _his_  whether you wanted it or not.”

Rhys had to set the glass of wine down on the side table before he threw it across the room. Sick, hot feelings of anger were washing over the omega as Yvette’s words. The pleasant thoughts that he had been having about Jack were now replaced, tainted with images of Vasquez—of the alpha’s bulky, sweaty body towering above him, holding him by the wrists as he fucked him, Rhys squirming and letting out little cries as he tried to get through this, knowing the man wouldn’t bother trying to give him any pleasure. He squirmed, feeling sick and swearing that he could  _smell_ Vasquez’ scent in the myriad of smells within his apartment. 

“Rhys? Are you okay?” Yvette’s voice cut through the fog of Rhys’ terror. The omega swallowed, dragging his flesh hand down his face.

“Oh yeah, I’m fine. I just  _love_  hearing all the shit he says about me.” Rhys shook his head, trying to gather himself, but his body was trembling. 

“It…it was probably just alpha talk but….I thought you should know. If you see him again, stay as far away as you can. Even if he wasn’t being serious just…be safe.”

Rhys nodded, biting his lip. He was half tempted to ask Yvette to come and stay by his side, but decided against it. He felt like he either wanted to upend every last piece of furniture in the bedroom, or sit in the shower and sob until his skin stopped crawling, and he didn’t really want anyone to see that. So he thanked her and quickly hung up the call. After a moment of staring off into nothing, the omega reached forward with trembling hands, grabbing the glass of wine and downing the remaining contents in one fervid gulp.  

* * *

After a thoroughly restless night—for both Rhys and Cyrus, as the boy had come into the omega’s bedroom crying from a nightmare and insisting on sleeping in his mom’s bed, something that the omega welcomed—Rhys was still feeling upset over what Yvette had told him Sure, he shit-talked Vasquez plenty as well, but it was different—the alpha had the position and disposition to back it up. Also…threatening to forcibly bond someone was an entirely more severe matter than making fun of how they were in bed or the shape of their knot. It was a scary thing to think about—especially considering how Vasquez had snuck up on him in the bathroom that one time. What could have stopped the alpha from latching onto his neck if he wanted to? The entire idea made the omega feel paranoid, unsafe—and _angry._

As he mused over his morning coffee, robotically cooking breakfast for Cyrus, a thought rose up in the omega’s brain. He didn’t want to let Vasquez control his life in this way any longer. Yvette had told him to avoid the man at all costs, but—Rhys wanted this to  _end_ , once and for all. Briefly, he wondered if Jack would be willing to help, even if they had only just began to date and had shared just a single kiss—but he held back from telling the alpha. Vasquez was  _his_ problem, and Rhys wanted the vindication from putting the bastard in his place, telling him off once and for all. Maybe bring in Jack’s name just to make the alpha shake in his shitty shoes, just a little bit. 

Rhys had a programming meeting later on in the day, and as he dropped off Cyrus at school, he took the window of time to head up in the direction of the department where Vasquez worked. 

* * *

The omega receptionist seemed surprised to see Rhys at first, and initially told him that Vasquez was busy, but after some choice body language from the fellow omega and some light bonding touches to his hand, he told Rhys to wait while he informed his boss of the omega’s presence. So Rhys waited, arms crossed and foot tapping, staring furiously at the closed door behind the receptionist’s desk. His shoes clipped quickly against the floor when the door opened and he was allowed in, eyes narrowing at the desk and the back of the chair facing him. His stomach twisted in anger when the chair turned, faux-dramatic in its reveal of the smarmy alpha, fingers already tented in an amused gesture that matched the smirk on Vasquez’ lips. 

“Rhys, Rhys, what an unexpected surprise,” the alpha smiled, the skin around his eyes crinkling falsely as he beckoned towards the omega, “take a seat, baby, I’ve been wanting to talk to you lately. Just didn’t think  _you’d_  come to  _me_.”

Rhys stalked towards the desk, standing before it, not daring to take a seat in the chair across from the man. 

“You think you’re funny, don’t you? Making sick jokes behind my back?” Rhys snarled, hands curled into fists. The fake surprise on the alpha’s face made him feel nauseous.

“Jokes? Who’s joking, Rhys?” The alpha scooted his chair closer to the desk, resting his hands on its surface. “We don’t joke around that much in my department, Rhys. Lots of work and business going on. Guess it’s less of a party than programming but….well.”

“Don’t fuck with me, Vasquez,” Rhys growled, crossing his arms and trying to meet the alpha’s unconcerned gaze. “I’ve got a man on the inside too. I  _know_  what you’ve been saying about me. You may think omega harassment is no big deal but…I’ve got some  _powerful_ allies.”

“Oh. You mean like Yvette?” Vasquez chuckled, tapping his cybernetic pinkie against the desk. “I like her. Smart girl.”

“This isn’t  _about_  her.” Rhys snapped, “this is about us.” He regretted his choice of words as soon as they came out, especially when he saw Vasquez’s face light up.  

“Oh good,  _good_ , Rhys, because that’s exactly what I’ve been wanting to talk to you about, too. Sit.”

Rhys stood rigid, staring darkly at the alpha. He wondered if this was a good idea, but so many words were dying to leap off the tip of his tongue. Vasquez narrowed his eyes at him, waving his hand in a firm gesture. 

“ _Sit_ , Rhys.”

The omega hesitated, a chill going up his spine, before he obeyed, sitting in the seat across from the alpha. He made the mistake of resting on hand on the table, quickly withdrawing it back into his lap when Vasquez tried to reach across the desk to cover the omega’s hand with his own. 

“I thought this was supposed to be about business.” Rhys spat, holding onto his hand as if it had been burned. 

“It _is_ about business, kitty-kitty.” Vasquez leaned on his elbows against the desk, getting as close to the omega as he could with the piece of furniture in the way. “Well, maybe not  _entirely_ , but it does involve business. It’s something that will benefit both of our positions. All you have to do is say yes.”

“Yeah, I’m not saying anything until you tell me what you’re planning.”

“Okay, okay, fair enough.” Vasquez raised his hands defensively, before laying them back flat against the desk. His eyes roved over Rhys for a quick moment, prompting the omega to cross his legs, hiding his thighs and crotch from the alpha’s glance, before Vasquez against raised his eyes to meet Rhys’ stare. 

“See, I’ve been thinking. Ever since we had our  _talk_  a little while ago. Maybe I was being a bit too forward. Really, rude of me,” Vasquez smugly chastised himself with a shake of his head. “In any case, I would like to…. _clarify_  my intentions. And maybe you’ll start to see it my way.” Rhys couldn’t resist rolling his eyes. Yeah, like _that_ was going to happen. 

“Perhaps, last time when I  _asked_  you this, I was a little bit vulgar. Made it seem like I just wanted you as a cheap toy, but…it’s more than _just_  that.”

Rhys raised his eyebrows at the alpha, feeling anger and shock building up in this again. Was Vasquez…was he seriously still trying this?

“You want to get back together? Like… _together._ ”

“Bingo, Rhys. I know our history….could have been better, but I’m willing to look past your failings for the sake of our reputations.”

The omega scrunched up his face in disgust. 

“Why? Why would you ever think that I would want to get back together with  _you_?”

“Oh Rhys, I don’t need to spell it out for you. A healthy bond and a couple of kids  _really_ sells the whole corporate image. Sure, single cutthroat alphas can do pretty well for themselves, but they can only make it so far without a miracle,” Vasquez pressed his finger against his lip, “besides, the kid…Cyrus? You know that he could use a proper father around. A decent alpha role model and all. I’ve heard it can really help mold their endotype.” 

“So…basically you want me to be your little wife?” Rhys asked, voice laced with disgust. The idea of being with Vasquez was terrible enough on its own, without thinking what the man would do with Cyrus. His sweet boy would be absolutely ruined by having such a creep as a father. 

“C’mon, all you’d have to do is keep the house reasonably clean and take care of the kid. That’s not much more than you do now, huh?” Vasquez hummed, drumming his fingers against his lips. “Maybe pop a few more out. Alphas with bigger families look better.”

Rhys felt scalded, shuddering at the thought of being reduced to Vaquez’s little baby factory. 

“In your  _dreams_.” Rhys laughed, jabbing a finger against his own chest, “you’re never getting your hands on  _this_  ever again.”

Vasquez shot Rhys a patronizing look, clearly not taking him seriously. 

“Come on, sweetie. We made a pretty kid already. Don’t tell me you wouldn’t want more of that.”

“No. Never. Never again.” Rhys hissed, leveling the finger of his cybernetic arm directly at the alpha’s face. “Leave me the hell alone, Hugo. Find some other omega to be your little housewife.” 

“ _Rhys_.” The alpha growled warningly, rising from his desk. He leveled a steely glance at the stubborn omega, palms flat against the surface of his desk as he stared him down. Rhys swallowed, trying to hold fast and meet Vasquez’ cold stare. 

“This is your last chance.” Rhys spluttered in surprise as the alpha reached forward, grabbing onto his collar and tugging him closer, forcing the omega to stand. “You don’t want to find out what I’m capable of, Rhys. If you refuse, you’re going to find out _just_  how powerful I am.” 

Rhys jerked back violently, feeling the fabric of his collar dig into his neck. Panic settled in, the omega’s eyes growing wide. 

“H-Hugo—Hugo, let me  _go_.” He struggled, managing to tear his collar from the alpha’s firm grip. His heart beat frantically in his chest, not wanting the man’s hands anywhere near his throat. The omega had never been so grateful to have a desk separating him from the other man. He backed up, nearly tripping over the chair as he got as far away from Vasquez as he could manage. He must look pathetic, the very picture of a terrified, submissive omega—but he was scared, watching Vasquez for sudden movements, ready to bolt if the man tried to circle around the desk.

But Vasquez merely stood there, both hands now placed on his desk as he stared Rhys down, thick eyebrows creasing his forehead as he appraised the omega. Rhys waited for the man to say something—a threat, an insults, anything—but no, Vasquez merely stood there, staring at him, until Rhys turned around and quickly exited the room, getting the hell out of the entire department as fast as he possibly could. 

* * *

Vasquez’s words had rung clear in Rhys’ mind through the next few days. The omega felt anxious and paranoid, looking over his shoulder everywhere he went. The alpha’s threats stuck with Rhys, to the point where the omega took to wearing high collars to protect the vulnerable place on his neck, too terrified that anyone in the crowd would end up being Vasquez, who would try to pin him down and bond him—the omega was sure that’s what the man was planning. 

His fears, however, ebbed slightly whenever he was around Jack. The apex alpha was having him do more personal errands and tasks whenever the omega had time. Rhys wondered if Jack just wanted him around—wonders that were confirmed when Jack pulled on his tie and brought him into a powerful kiss that left the omega shuddering. Jack’s office began to feel like the only safe place that he had outside of his own apartment—full of the alpha’s scent, with absolutely no one else but Jack inside most of the time. There were no crowds, no risk of Vasquez popping out of a group of people and pouncing on him. 

* * *

Rhys had been in the middle of getting Cyrus ready for preschool, dabbing jam off the boy’s face and packing his backpack, when a series of rapid knocks on the door had interrupted the man’s morning routine. Rhys told Cyrus to wait in the kitchen as he went to the door, peering at the security display before opening it. 

“Can I help you?” Rhys asked the two individuals standing in front of him. They were clad in official Hyperion attire, waistcoats and suit jackets paired with ear pieces and what looked like tasers on their belts. 

“Mr. Somerset?” The taller of the two men asked, as the other held a tablet, using his finger to presumably look up something on the display.

“Yes?” Rhys answered, glaring at the two men suspiciously. He sniffed at the air—both of them alphas, his skin prickling at the scent. Having strange alphas on his doorstep was not how he wanted to start his day—especially lately. “What can I do for you?”

“We’re from the Hyperion Juvenile Protective Service. We understand you have a son, Mr. Somerset? Is the child in the home right now?” The shorter man asked, looking up from his tablet as the two moved forward. Rhys backed up a little bit, but held firm, not letting the men get further into his home until he could determine what they were here for. 

“Yes….he’s here….would you kindly tell me what this is all about?” Rhys spoke back, starting to lose his patience and politeness. He didn’t want suspicious alphas in his home—especially those who were asking about his son. 

“Mr. Somerset, we’ve been given evidence to the fact that the current living situation for the child is less than satisfactory, as stated by Helios Law Code 954—“

“Evidence? What evidence do you have?” Rhys barked, voice getting angrier and more frantic. He took a wide stance, unconsciously blocking the two agents from getting further into his home. The taller man cleared his throat, hand unconsciously moving to the taser on his belt. 

“Sir, many times with omegas living without an alpha presence, there tends to be an imbalance and inability to care properly for—“

“Are you accusing me of hurting my  _son_?” Rhys snarled, feeling his instincts blaze at the accusation. The taller man merely shot him a cool, uncaring look. 

“Please, sir, we make no such—“

“The what do you want from us?” The omega snapped, showing his teeth. It probably wasn’t the smartest move to react with such hostility, but he felt more threatened than he had in a long time, even compared to his encounter with Vasquez. He watched the two men, pulse hammering as the shorter man wet his lips. 

“Our evidence suggests that for the child’s safety, he be removed from the home entirely. You’re free to appeal your case through the agency, but we  _will_  be taking the child today.”

Rhys felt as if his heart had stopped. He gaped at the two men, his stance faltering as the power seemed to seep from his legs. 

“You….you what…?” Rhys voice came out in a pathetic whisper, before fury and fear began to properly settle in the omega’s brain. 

“Where are you taking him  _to_?” The omega growled, panicked anger rising up in his throat. No, no no no. This has to be some kind of  _nightmare_. The shorter man merely turned the tablet around in Rhys’ direction, tapping on the screen to enhance the warrant that had been issued. 

“The child will be promptly relinquished into the custody of one Hugo P. Vasquez.” 

Rhys’ eyes widened, absolute horror sinking into his chest. This  _was_  a nightmare. He felt broken, his entire body trembling as tears welled up in his eyes. He tried to speak, but the words were difficult in coming, sticking in his throat as he choked on them in pain. 

“You can’t….you can’t take him…” Rhys shook his head, horrified heat rising in his cheeks. “He’s mine…you can’t…”

“Mr. Somerset, if you don’t bring us the child, then we will have no option but to take you into custody.” The taller agent spoke firmly, coldness shocking Rhys to the core. The omega shrunk, holding his hands against his chest as his eyes fell from the agents, focusing on the floor—too weak and shocked to even keep his sight raised. 

“C-Cyrus?” Rhys stammered, calling out to his boy as he tried to keep his voice steady. Every tiny patter of feet was like a stab in the omega’s chest as he turned around to see his boy trundle out of the kitchen, still clutching his little backpack. 

“Mom?” The child questioned, worry rising in his voice as he glanced at the two strangers standing in the doorway. “Who are these guys?”

Rhys turned away from the two men and crouched down next to his son, trying to console himself as he placed his hands upon the boy’s tiny shoulders. Cyrus looked confused and concerned as he searched his mother’s face.

Rhys could barely speak, his lips working uselessly as he processed the gravity of what was happening. Sorrow settled thick and hard in his throat, weighing down through his chest as he trembled, trying to hold back the shocked tears building in his eyes. 

“Cyrus….” Rhys began, voice hoarse and choked. He swallowed, stopping for a moment as he struggled to compose himself enough to continue. “Sweetheart…I need you to go with these people for right now.”

“Why?”

“Because….because I say so, Cyrus.” The boy’s eyebrows scrunched up, looking from Rhys to the men behind him with a worried look, clearly not liking the two strangers and sensing his mom’s distress. 

“No…Mom…I don’t  _wanna_ …” Cyrus shied away from Rhys’ touch, looking confused. Rhys kneeled on the floor, holding his boy by the forearms, eyes pleading. 

“Sweetie…you’ve got to go with them…”

“No…mom I don’t wanna.” Cyrus shook his head fervently, leaning forward to cling to his mother, burying his face into Rhys’ chest to hide from the scary men. Rhys choked on a sob as he held his son in his arms, holding him close and pressing his face into Cyrus’ hair. He kissed the boy’s crown once before rising to his feet. He saw the agents shuffling impatiently in his peripheral vision. Rhys briefly wondered if he could make a run for it, if he could push past the agents before they subdued him. But he didn’t want to risk harming his boy in the scuffle.

“Cyrus…” Rhys breathed out, voice strained. “I’m so sorry.”

Cyrus' little hands held tightly onto his mother’s shirt even as he was passed from Rhys’ arms to the waiting arms of the agent. The child let out a cry as the agent tugged his fingers loose from the fabric, snapping the last bit of contact between mother and son. Rhys sobbed at the loss, tears beginning to run down his face as he watched his boy’s expression break.

“No no no! Mom! Mom, please!” Cyrus screamed at the top of his lungs, thrashing around in the agent’s arms, reaching out for his mother, “I don’t wanna go with them!  _Mom_!” The boy’s backpack slipped from his shoulders and fell to the ground, pencils and loose papers scattering over the floor. 

Rhys tried,  _tried_ staying in place, tried not to fight or chase after the men as they began to make their way out of the doorway, but his son’s screams and his omega instincts were too much for the young man to bear. Rhys felt his legs moving towards the men, lunging for his son only to be blocked by the taller agent. Rhys screeched, clawing at the man’s arm in a desperate attempt to get past him, instincts roaring to save his son from the threat. Rhys didn’t notice the man grab at his belt as he struggled to get to Cyrus. 

“W-Wait, I’m not letting you—“

Rhys’ words died in throat as sudden, white hot pain shocked through his stomach with a crackle of electricity. The omega felt the oxygen in his lungs fizzle as he gasped from breath, his nerves on fire as his legs gave out and he crashed to the floor. 

Cyrus’ scream echoed in his ears as the omega gasped and twitched on the ground, dizziness swarming his mind as he struggled to sit up. His felt bloodied spittle froth at his lips, his ECHOeye fuzzing at the edges as he turned in the direction of the door, only to hear it swing shut with a harsh  _slam._

Rhys lay there on the floor, muscles twitching and trembling, tears spilling out of his eyes as a horrible scream rent through the now empty home. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't hurt me too bad D:
> 
> Also, I'm thinking at this point the fic will end up being about 9 chapters? Yes.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! I just want to say to not get.....too excited over this chapter, because it's more of a side chapter than a direct continuation of the story. I really wanted to write something small about Cyrus living in Vasquez's home, but I'm also not entirely sure that it fits in with the flow of the story. But I also didn't think it was good enough to post on its own, so I put it here. Feel free to skip it unless you want to read something from Cyrus' perspective!

Cyrus didn’t like it here.

The house was really big, and nice looking. And really, really clean. Cleaner than his house, even. But that was the problem. It wasn’t _his_ house. And worst of all, his mom wasn’t here.

Cyrus still didn’t understand why he had to stay here. He didn’t understand why the other two men had taken him from his mom and brought him here. The big alpha from the preschool, the one whose smell made Cyrus’ nose hurt and who his mom had been mad at lived here. He’d showed Cyrus his room and the rest of the house before he’d started talking to the funny little metal thing in his ear. Cyrus had wondered if he had a cybernetic ear like his mom’s arm, but the big alpha didn’t want to answer any of his questions. He told Cyrus to call him “dad” which was confusing, because his mom had _said_ that this alpha wasn’t his dad. So Cyrus didn’t understand why he had to call him dad if he _wasn’t_. But his “dad” wasn’t even around that much anyway, leaving almost right after Cyrus had first arrived at his house. 

Cyrus had gone to sleep in the too big room—stuffed with fancy new toys and gadgets that Cyrus was scared to touch—and woken up the next morning half hoping that it had all been a bad dream and that his mom would be there to wake him up with kisses and smiles. But he woke up all alone, and when he trundled out into the living room with his blue blanket wrapped around him like a toga he couldn’t find anyone else. He peeked into a room with a big bed and dresser, but he didn’t see or hear anybody else in there, or in the entire house. 

The sudden loneliness that the boy felt was only squashed by the sound and feeling of his tummy gurgling. So he dragged the tails of his blanket to the big, ornate kitchen, nearly slipping on the smooth tile floor as he opened up the refrigerator. There were a lot of eggs and meat and plenty of vegetables that Cyrus didn’t recognize, among some other things. He grabbed for a familiar looking jar and stuck his finger inside, happy to find that yes, it was indeed peanut butter. He took out the small bag of peeled carrots too—his mom always wanted him to eat his vegetables, and even if mom wasn’t here, he still wanted to be good. 

Bread was easier to find, sitting on one of the lower levels in the pantry. It looked kind of funny, darker brown than the bread his mom usually bought and studded with small seeds, but he took it out anyway and plopped it on the granite counter next to the peanut butter and carrots. 

Cyrus opened one of the drawers to look for a knife but accidentally pulled it out all the way, sending its contents crashing to the floor. He tried to put back all the cutlery in its place, but he didn’t know how to put the drawer back in the cabinet so he just left it on the floor as he scooted a chair up to the counter and sat down to spread his peanut butter on the bread. He didn’t know where any paper towels were so he tried to be very careful, and only a few crumbs and smears of peanut butter got on the counter as he made his sandwich and bit into it. Cyrus made a small face as he chewed—mom always cut the crusts off his sandwich, and this bread tasted like it was _all_ crusts, but he was so hungry that he kept eating until it was all gone. Once he was done munching on the carrots, he pushed his knife over the edge of the sink until it clattered against the steel basin and toddled off to the living room.

Cyrus had half hoped that _someone_ would have come back by the time he was done eating, but there was still nobody in the house. Frowning, the boy started to explore, trying to find _something_ to do. 

He snuck back into the big alpha’s room, wrinkling his nose as he slipped past the door. The entire place smelled bad! Worse than it smelled when the alpha tried to hug him. Still, Cyrus hadn’t explore this room yet, so he snooped in the drawers and cabinets in the bathroom, finding a lot of weird pills and creams that looked and smelled funny, which he quickly put back. He finally started crawling under the big alpha’s bed, trying to pretend that he was on an adventure exploring some weird cave on Pandora or something. He found a couple of pieces of loose change, as well as some dusty rings that he put in his pocket. Cyrus decided they would be a great present when his mom came to get him. Maybe if he gave his mom enough of the trinkets, he would make sure no weird guys took him away ever again. 

Cyrus’ curious fingers soon found a beat up cardboard box, dragging it out from underneath the bed to get a better look in the dim light. There were stacks of weird magazines in the box, full of pictures of ladies and guys with hips like his mom—some of them even had robot arms and legs like his mom did too. But they all didn’t have clothes on and a lot of them didn’t look happy, which made Cyrus sad. So he fumbled around on the nightstand until he found himself a pen, quickly scrawling clothes on all the people in the magazines, before putting them back in the box and pushing it under the bed. 

Cyrus spent most of his days like this, making his own food and exploring the house. The big alpha was around sometimes, but usually when Cyrus heard the door open he dashed to his own room and shut the door. The alpha almost never came in his room, only occasionally knocking on the door to ask him if he was there, and if he was all right. Cyrus always nodded first, before remembering that the alpha couldn’t see him through the door and giving a quiet “yes” before snuggling back into his blankets until the alpha went away. He tried to play with some of the new toys and games in his room, but they were all confusing and he missed his loaderbots and his plushies. At night, he wrapped himself up tight in his bedding, able to sleep more soundly if he pretended they were his mother’s arms cuddling him close.  

Cyrus tried to be strong, but as the days kept passing without his mom showing up to take him back home, he got more and more sad and lonely. He didn’t know what to do. He tried to call using the ECHO device on the table in the living room, but he didn’t know his mom’s number, and the first one he randomly called ended up yelling at him. He’d shut it off and sat on the floor crying for a bit after that, before trying to think of another way to contact his mom. Or if not his mom—he thought, perking up a bit—then maybe someone else. 

Cyrus knew that Mr. Handsome’s face was all over Helios—if he could get a message to the outside somehow, someone was bound to find it and take it to Mr. Handsome! He was the boss and the hero after all! And Cyrus _really_ needed a hero right now. 

So he again crept into the big alpha’s room, grabbing a piece of paper and a pencil from the desk before rushing back to the coffee table in the living room. He stuck his little tongue out between his teeth, concentrating hard as he scrawled out his message. 

_“Deer Mister Handsum. Im bored and I miss my mommy. Help pleez -Cyrus”_ He brushed the eraser shavings away from the paper, holding it up and reading it over a few times before he smiled. Mr. Handsome was sure to find it, come and save him, and then marry his mom and be his dad. His real dad, not the weird big alpha who just said he was his dad. 

The front door was locked and he didn’t know the code to get it to open, but there was a small little space underneath it, the perfect size for the paper to slip through. Cyrus crouched down, pressing the paper facedown against the floor and quickly sliding it underneath to the other side. Cyrus smiled a little to himself, feeling better and _sure_ that someone would find his letter and take it to Mr. Handsome. He bounced back to his bedroom, confident that help was on the way and he wouldn’t be lonely much longer. 

All he had to do was wait for Mr. Handsome, his hero, to come and save him and bring him back to him mom. 

 


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Sorry for the very long hiatus, I had a vacation, finals, and a couple of other projects going on. But here we go!! The chapter I'm sure many of you have been waiting for, and I hope it delivers! I feel like its not as strong as I wanted it to be, but I hope you guys enjoy it!

For the first few moments that Rhys was awake, he did’t remember what had happened. With his eyes still closed, brain fuzzy—he could only smell. It was warm, comforting, familiar, and for a brief moment Rhys believed that everything was fine. 

It was Cyrus’ smell. 

The moment the realization set in, and he grew more conscious. Rhys sat straight up, clutching something soft and warm to his chest. The omega blinked rapidly, heart lifting as he looked down to what was gripped in his arms, heart rising in his chest—

But it was only a pillow, bright blue and rumpled and dampened slightly with Rhys’ drool.

The omega felt sick as memories of the previous day slowly began to return to him. Despite the sore puffiness in his eyes, he felt tears well up. He sniffled, letting out a muffled wail as he buried his face back into the pillow. 

As soon as the initial panic and horror of having his son had passed, Rhys had been right on the phone with the Hyperion Child Services demanding information on his case and the details of the accusations against him, but they insisted that they couldn’t release any information unless he came in in person. And when he _did_ come in in person—clothes rumpled and ragged, normally coiffed hair messy and out of place—they said they didn’t have any file concerning a Rhys Somerset. And when he had started to get angry with them, they had the nerve to call him _hysterical_ like he was some hussy getting huffed over their latte not being hot enough, instead of a parent whose child had been _snatched_ from his arms by one of _their people_. Rhys had almost been willing to endure an arrest and all the terrible things that could happen to a primped omega like himself in a Hyperion jail. He’d screeched and struggled against the armed guards who’d shoved him out of the facility, spitting on the floor in front of them and just barely dodging  being dragged into custody.  

It was at that point that Rhys had finally tried to call his friends for help. 

Vaughn’s insistence that whoever they were, they couldn’t get away with this, failed to eased Rhys’ pain. They had done it, and even though Rhys had tried he hadn’t been able to edge in and _do_ anything about it. However Vaughn’s threat to drain Vasquez’s bank account, while empty, had gotten a weary chuckle out of the omega. Yvette had said she was going to spit in his coffee and—more helpfully—snoop around and see if she could get a sniff of Cyrus. 

His friends had provided small comfort for awhile, but as the night went on even they couldn’t stave off the omega's mounting depression. He had said his goodbyes to them with an empty smile and promises that he would check in and give them any news, before quietly locking the door and leaning up against it with a pained, tearful sigh. 

Rhys had wondered for a moment if there was anything else he could do, but tiredness and stress had pulled onto him by that point. Distraught and alone, Rhys had retreated into his son’s bedroom and flopped on the bed, holding Cyrus’ pillow to his face and sobbing into the boy’s scent until his exhausted body had finally passed into sleep. 

Rhys was sitting in the middle of his son’s rumpled bed now, the sheets still kicked up. Cyrus had never had a good habit of making his bed in the morning, usually only doing it after getting home from school at Rhys’ insistence. And his Loader bot toys were still all over the floor, their little missiles scattered about. Rhys sniffled, bringing his knees up to his chest, squeezing the pillow as he scented all over it. 

Rhys felt empty, his heart dead. The scent of his son was the smallest comfort he could draw, but being in Cyrus’ room was painful—the reminders of so many happy memories tearing him apart. 

Rhys was ripped out of his grief by a sudden flurry of notifications blipping on his ECHOeye. Rhys let out a growl, crunching his hand against the side of his face, determined to ignore them until he saw who they were from. 

_Jack_. 

In all the commotion and anxiety of the past day, Rhys had nearly forgotten about him. After all, they had only gone out on a date or so, and despite his infatuation with the handsome alpha, his son came first, his son _always_ came first. And he had been more concerned with finding out where Cyrus was and if he was unhurt than to entertain Jack’s whims and orders. The omega’s parental instincts trumped even the CEO’s fearsome needs. 

Still….maybe…just maybe, Jack could help. He quickly opened the messages.  

_Its been a few days sweetheart. hows my favorite little omega doin_?

Rhys let out a pained chuckle, flicking to the next message. 

_Been thinkin. how bout we continue what we started on our little date? scurry on over to my office for some fun? ;)_

As much as he’d been wanting it before, fun with Jack was the furthest of Rhys’ concerns. But his omega instincts were screaming at him to get close to the strong alpha, the one who had already been close to him, scented him, protected him. The urge to get Jack to help, to return his young to him, drove Rhys to drag himself out of his son’s bed. He fought his want to take a shower, messily combing his hair back with a gelled palm. He changed his clothes for the first time since yesterday morning, roughly matching the pieces together and anxiously straightening the edges. 

He shot a single message out to Jack as he walked out the door. 

_I’ll be there in ten_. 

* * *

“Rhys! _Rhysieeee._ Everyone’s favorite little omega.” Jack braced his hand against his desk and stood up, flashing the omega a toothy grin as Rhys’ shakily approached him. “But mostly mine.” 

The cool, artificial air of Jack’s office was stark on the omega’s nervous skin. Rhys swallowed as Jack’s familiar scent graced his nostrils—perhaps a hint more acidic than usual, his senses swayed by his emotional state. He could detect the hint of blood underneath the thick mellow of Jack’s scent, and Rhys wanted nothing more than to stir that iron rage up to the surface. 

Rhys watched with bated breath as Jack rounded around his desk, fingers trailing over the surface as he stalked towards the omega. 

“Hah, who am I kidding. _All_ mine.”

Rhys swallowed around the harsh lump in his throat, trembling gaze meeting the steely eyes of the alpha. He wasn’t exactly sure how to approach this—Jack clearly thought he was here for a booty call, and Rhys wasn’t entirely sure how he would react to being told that Rhys didn’t want that in the moment, that he needed Jack’s…. _help_. The man wasn’t known for being very charitable or caring about things that didn’t immediately concern him, his dick, or his whims, but Rhys was clinging on a shred of hope that Jack could help him get his son back, to get revenge on Vasquez. 

“You’ve been a _liiiiiittle_ hard to get ahold of lately, kitten. S’okay though. In all that spare time I’ve been dreaming up all _kinds_ of fun we can have together.”

Jack shifted his weight languidly in front of the omega, swaying a little closer as he checked Rhys out with a wanting grin. The omega felt shivers run up and down his spine—it would be so easy to just give into Jack, to keep his mouth quiet and let the alpha have his way with him, to fill him with pleasure so he could forget, if only for a couple moments, the pain of losing his child. A moment of respite offered to the poor omega who had barely been allowed a break for even the comfort of sleep.  

“Guess you’re a busy little middle management mama, though,” Jack chuckled. “Where’s the kiddo been, by the way? Haven’t seen him in awhile. You ever teach him how to shoot a gun?” He raised his hands up in the air, motioning like he was holding a rifle up and pointed towards Rhys. “Cause I got a nice little piece made that I think would be perfect.”

Rhys felt his body go rigid, tingling with nerves. 

“Jack, that’s….” The omega took a deep breath, struggling to keep level with Jack’s eyes. “I kind of needed to….to talk to you about Cyrus.”

“Yeah? Shoot, cupcake. Heh. _Shoot_.” Jack smirked, flapping his arms down to his side. “Cause I was just talking about teaching the kid to do that.”

“Cyrus is gone.” Rhys blurted out, harsher than he intended to. “His…his father took him.”

Silence sunk into the office, Rhys’ voice trailing off in an echo in the massive room. The omega took a deep, shuddering breath, pressing his hand over his mouth as his eyes fell to the floor. He suddenly felt awash with emotion, the facade he had brought with him to Jack’s office slowly crumbling—this was his last hope, and he prayed that Jack would take it in his hands, would help him. 

“ _What_?” Jack whispered, and the low growl edging into his voice made Rhys shiver. He carefully raised his gaze. Jack was looking at him with a dark intensity, his brows furrowed, hands planted on his waist. Rhys jolted back slightly as Jack stalked suddenly towards him, getting so close to Rhys that their chests were almost brushing together, the man’s pupils racing back and forth as he worked over the information in his head. 

“I mean….I didn’t think he popped out of thin air, but….he _took_ him? What do you _mean_ he took him?”

“H-He…he had two men come to my house…take Cyrus away…” Rhys whimpered softly, feeling his eyes grow hot as he tried to get the words out. “He….he left me with Cyrus when he was born but…guess he just _decided_ that he wanted him back.” 

Jack clamped one hand down on the omega’s shoulder, the other roughly cupping his face. Despite himself, Rhys shuddered. 

“You kidding' me...Who did this, kitten? Give me the son of a taint’s name. Right now.”

Rhys was sure he should feel terror right now, as he was being shook by the shoulder by a Handsome Jack with pure _murder_ in his eyes. Any other omega, hell, any other _human_ would have tucked their tails between their legs and fled the man’s office. But Rhys was transfixed by Jack’s fury, the alpha quickly barreling towards a foregone conclusion, the ultimate consequence of the CEO’s rage. 

And all Rhys had to do was to light the fuse, and there was a touch of venom in his voice as he hissed out into the alpha’s face. 

“ _Hugo Vasquez.”_

And just like that, Jack was like a thunderstorm at his desk, snarling into his comm to his secretary to connect him with Vasquez’s. Rhys heart picked up at the sheer fury in the alpha’s voice, soaking into every harsh and hurried phrase that Jack spat out. 

“I don’t care if he’s in a meeting, he’s in a meeting with Handsome-goddamn-Jack now, and if you give me lip one more time, cupcake, I’m gonna vent your _whooooole_ department into space.. So you go ahead and tell him to get his ass up here right now. And tell him to bring the frikkin’ kid with him!” The alpha snarled, spit flying from his fangs as he slammed the comm down. 

Rhys didn’t know what to say, standing quietly at Jack’s side. The alpha didn’t say much either, except for quiet, angered mutterings to himself that Rhys’ didn’t have the nerveto answer. The air was thick with tension, Jack’s anger expanding to fill the room, like a bomb on the very edge of exploding. 

* * *

 Vasquez had the audacity to not look absolutely terrified as he walked into Jack’s office. The non-plussed, even slightly _excited_ look on his face had Rhys feeling absolutely murderous. He would have vaulted forward and socked the alpha right in the face if not for two things—the promise of Jack’s anger stewing in the grand chair beside him, and the sight of the small figure scooting shyly forward at Vasquez’s side. 

Rhys’ breath stilled in his throat the moment he saw Cyrus—alive and unhurt. The boy’s face was pale and his mouth set in a flat line, eyes quiet and solemn as he was led into the room in a waistcoat and pants that looked too tight. His lips parted softly, eyes lighting up for a moment when he saw his mother, but when he started forward and tried to say something, Vasquez’s broad hand stayed him. Rhys could feel hot tears boil up in his eyes as Cyrus obediently followed the alpha up towards Jack’s desk, his eyes falling to his shoes. Rhys wanted nothing more than to race around the desk and scoop up his son, but the murderous tension radiating from Jack rooted him in place, leaving him to ponder what exactly the alpha was going to _do_. 

Though with Jack, there were only a couple of options.  

“Hugo Vasquez,”  Jack’s voice was first to break the silence, “now I recognize that ugly mug of yours. Used to work in the mail room, right?“ Rhys watched out of the corner of his eye, saw Jack’s nose curl in disgust. Vasquez didn’t seem to notice. 

The man only nodded, a slight bit of hesitation worming into his movements, before he spoke up.

“Y-Yes Handsome Jack sir. Couple of years back.”

“Uh-huh. And now you head up a _whooooooole_ little department all by yourself. Must be fun, playing with the big boys now.”

“Ah, yeah. Thank you, sir.”

Jack let out a dismissive, answering snort before leaning forward in his chair with an ominous _creak_.

“All right, enough beatin’ around the bush. Listen up, cupcake, cause Rhysie here was telling me just the most….the most crazy, fucked up story. I’m hoping you’ll be able to set him straight.”

Vasquez’s mouth formed a little “o” of realization, eyes flitting to Rhys for a moment before he smirked. 

“Ah, um, I understand sir. His kind is uh. They’re kind of like that. Dramatic little things.” Rhys felt himself bristle at that. His arm twitched a little from where he was resting them against his front. Jack continued after a quick glance to the rattled omega. 

“Uh _huuuuh_. No kidding.” Jack rested both of his palms flat against the counter, tapping an uneven beat that made Rhys’ anxious heart quicken. “So anyway, like I was saying, Rhys was telling me this little story right before I invited you in here…we were talking about that little kiddo over there.” 

Jack nodded towards Cyrus, who was hiding anxiously beside Vasquez, unsure of what to do. He swayed a little forward when Jack recognized him, but he was held in place by Vasquez’s grip on his shoulder. 

“Oh, really?”

“Yep. And lucky you, I’ve met that little kid before. Funny, Rhys was with him, told me he was _his_ kid.” Jack’s taps on the top of the desk grew quicker, more insistent. “Now, now, tell me if Rhys is just _crazy_ , cupcake, because he’s been just a total scatterbrain lately but. He’s telling me that you—that you abandoned this kid when he was born, and now you’re taking him back just like nothing happened? Is that what’s going on here?”

“Um, sir…I’m not…” Vasquez fidgeted with his cybernetic pinkie, becoming more and more disquieted with the conversation. 

“Come on, dum dum, what’s the hold up? Let me in on what’s going on inside that greasy skull of yours.”

Vasquez's rubbery lips struggled against his words, brows knit in confusion. 

“Sir…I don’t know what the omega is telling you, but _he_ is not a competent parent. There’s a reason I took custody of my son. I have _evidence_.“ Vasquez shook his head in seeming disbelief. “Sir, I….I don’t see why a man of your standing should be entertaining his delusions.”

“I’ll cut to the fuckin’ chase then,” Jack snapped his teeth. “What the _hell_  makes you think you can waltz around with _my_ omega’s kid?” He slammed his fist on the desk, making Vasquez jump, his eyes widening. He looked down at Cyrus in shock, retracting his hand from the boy’s shoulder as if it was red hot. 

“ _Your_ omega?” Vasquez wide eyes tore from Jack to stare at Rhys, before snapping back to Jack, “I—I—sir, I had no idea—“ 

“Shut up.  _Everyone_ knows how I feel about other alphas touching _my things_.” Jack looked completely livid, lips curled in the most terrifying snarl that Rhys had even seen on the alpha’s face. It made him quake in fear even with Jack’s ire directed entirely against Vasquez. 

“I—I—I’m s-so sorry sir—“

“ _I-I-I’m so sorry sir!”_ Jack mocked, rising up from his desk, his chair wheeling furiously behind him. “You better believe you’re going to be sorry, you stupid fucking taint!” The alpha was roaring now, Rhys transfixed as he watched spit scatter from the man’s mouth and streak against the desktop. Vasquez’s mouth fell open, taking a couple of shaky steps back, unsure of whether he should stay or run, but the decision was quickly made for him as Jack vaulted himself up and _over_ the desk, landing with a thunderous _slam_ on the other side. Vasquez cried out in shock, shoving at Cyrus as he turned tail and _ran_ , only making it a few steps before Jack caught up and pounced upon him.  

Despite his admiration for Jack, Vasquez found himself on the defense as the other alpha wrenched him back around to rain furious strikes against him. Self preservation instincts took over in an instant as he snapped at the apex alpha, hands sloppily parrying Jack’s blows as the full force of the alpha’s rage descended on him. The burly alpha struggled to hold his own against Jack, defending himself against the CEO as Jack took to him with teeth and claw, pistol forgotten on his hip. 

The moment Jack touched Vasquez Rhys was racing over to his son, quick to snatch Cyrus from where he had been pushed, yanking him away from the fighting. Rhys’ knees hit the floor as he scooped his son up into his arms, the boy wailing for his mother as Rhys pressed him against his chest. Tears dribbled from Cyrus’ cheeks as he clutched to Rhys, scared by the wild snarls and flashing teeth of the two fighting alphas. 

Rhys head whipped around as he held his son to his chest, eyes wide as he watched Jack and Vasquez tear at each other. Vasquez was unpracticed, but not completely helpless as he defended himself against the sheer force of Jack’s onslaught. Blood splattered against the shiny floor of Jack’s office, the furious barks of the two men echoing against the vast walls. The smell of blood and alpha pheromone was thick in the air, dizzying the omega as his eyes flitted with each strike, each snap of teeth. 

Rhys gasped as Jack finally threw Vasquez to the ground, leaping on top of him with a frenzied roar. Vasquez’s snarls had been reduced to gurgling cries as he struggled to push Jack off of him, hips bucking wildly as the alpha pressed a knee into his belly. Patches of Vasquez’s hair had been torn out of his skull, the scalp ripped and bleeding down his temples. Red toothmarks stood out against his throat, and his cheeks had been torn open by Jack’s claws, but he was still fighting back, grappling with the apex alpha and forcing away his hands. But Jack was rage incarnate, his huge hands punching Vasquez’s aside as the weight of his palms slammed mercilessly against the other alpha’s neck. 

Vasquez’s face reddened, his tongue sticking out of his mouth as he scratched uselessly against Jack’s hands. The alpha’s eyes were wide with murderous rage, teeth set in a jagged, furious line as he throttled the breath from the man beneath him. And Rhys watched it all, his blood boiling, vindication rising _hot_ as his throat, a cruel smile slowly spreading across his face as he watched his most hated enemy—who had done everything to hurt him, to ruin his life—being choked to death before his very eyes. 

But a scared, high-pitched whine brought him back to his senses, clearing his brain of the scent of blood for a moment. Cyrus clung harder to him, face pale and tears coursing from his wide eyes as he too stared at the violent scene before him. The child was stiff as a board, pure terror coursing through him, his nostrils flaring as he watched Jack strangle the life from his biological father. Rhys felt a cold streak of fear run through him—like he was seeing the boy change before his very eyes. 

And so he found himself releasing his son, shakily rising up to his feet, breathing heavily as he stumbled towards the two alphas. The horrible, choking noises from Vasquez and the slow tap of Rhys’ feet were the only sounds the omega could hear as he reached forward and grabbed Jack by the shoulders, adrenaline coursing through his tensing muscles as he wrenched at the alpha. He growled at Jack to move, to let go, but the alpha wouldn’t listen, his hands wrapped around Vasquez’s neck like they had been welded there.

So Rhys grit his teeth, hardening his stance against the floor as he yanked with all his might. With a strain and a desperate grunt, he tore Jack off of Vasquez, the omega falling onto his ass with Jack _thudding_ between his legs. Rhys growled and tightened his grasp on Jack, grappling with the alpha as he snarled and struggled to get back to Vasquez, fingers clawing at Rhys’ hands as the omega tried to bring the man down from his bloodlust. 

“Jack…Jack, _Jack!”_ Rhys shouted, pulling him back harshly. As Jack turned around and snarled at him, teeth bared and bloody and pupils tiny slits, Rhys grasped the man’s face and forcibly pressed it into his neck, his arms wrapping tighter around the alpha’s form and holding him close.  

He could feel the wet heat of Jack’s breath panting against his skin, could feel sticky blood smearing against his neck as Jack twitched against him. The omega firmly stroked down Jack’s back, his other hand holding the nape of the alpha’s neck as he pressed them against one another. Jack didn’t say a word, his breathing slowly calming down as his nostrils flared, filling himself with Rhys’ scent. 

The omega trembled slightly as he continued his repetitive movements, trying to hold steady even as it sunk into him what exactly he had done. He had…he had stopped Jack, _Handsome Jack_ , the most deadly man in the galaxy, from ripping apart an opponent. He wasn’t sure if anyone had ever done that without a hale of gunfire on their side. 

And it hadn’t just been any opponent. It had been…. _Vasquez_. He’d fantasized about all kinds of horrible shit happening to the alpha for years, but when the opportunity had finally been in front of him, he’d stopped it. 

_For Cyrus, yes. For Cyrus. But…that wasn’t all._

Rhys watched over Jack’s shoulder as Vasquez’s chest moved faster, the alpha struggling to regain oxygen. Rhys heard his rough, ragged breaths, blood spitting out of his mouth with every difficult rush of air. His limbs shifted slowly as he tried to sit up, to roll over onto his side. His face was bright red, stained with blood, hair in sweaty strands across his forehead. From beneath a swollen, bloody brow, he looked up, his teary brown eye meeting Rhys’ for a brief moment. 

Rhys let go of Jack slowly, the sedate alpha slipping out of his arms as Rhys rose to his feet. He felt huge, larger than life—Handsome Jack, _his_ alpha, watching him from the floor, Vasquez curled and bloody below him. Rhys towered over it all, his eyes cold and focused as he stepped over Vasquez and planted his heeled boot right in the center of his back, forcing his chest against the floor. 

The pained cry that came from the alpha was so weak and pitiful as Rhys shoved him down, grinding his boot into the man’s beaten body and pinning him to the ground. 

“Y-You think I was going to let you get off that easy, Hugo? After just a…a little tussle with Handsome Jack?” Rhys hissed, leaning forward, putting more weight—yes, his _weight_ because he was strong and solid and heavy on his enemy’s back not a fragile slip of an omega who could be bruised and abused and _hurt_ —onto Vasquez’s back, feeling his ribs creak and the breath tear from his crushed lungs. 

“Who’s the stupid omega now, asshole?” Rhys snarled, before pressing his boot on the back of the alpha’s neck. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just realized that the single dad AU could work as a prequel for the fancy omega AU. Funny.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long delay! I've been working on a lot of other projects, as well as dealing with finding a new apartment. I hope you guys are still around and looking forward to future chapters. 
> 
> Sorry to end on a kind of cliff hanger too. But I'm sure if you know me well enough, you can tell where it's heading....
> 
> Minor warning here for what basically amounts to an ABO version of chemical castration. If that makes you uncomfortable than please dont read this chapter!

Rhys was wearing a brand new royal blue shirt, accented by a silky yellow tie and a brand new pair of shoes that clipped through the clinical sector of the Cybernetics division.

Cyrus was at daycare, his first day back since returning to Rhys’ home. The omega’s bed had been occupied with the child in the week or so since the incident in Jack’s office, but Rhys welcomed the company. Sometimes, Cyrus had nightmares, and he would wake up crying and clinging to his mother, face buried in the omega’s chest as he whined for comfort that Rhys was all too willing to provide. And sometimes…sometimes it was Rhys who woke with a start in a cold sweat, and he needed to have that warm little body next to him, to nuzzle and scent until he fell back asleep.

But none of that vulnerability was on display as Rhys clacked through the hallways, men and women of all endotypes giving him a wide berth as he halted in front of one of the many doors lining the hallway of the clinic. Many of these rooms were reserved for patients recovering from cybernetics surgery or other health concerns related to their implants. Rhys knew these halls well, from before he had even been promoted. He leaned forward in front of the door, the retinal scanning identifying the proper markers in his ECHOeye as the door slid open and clicked shut behind the omega.

The room was as stark and clinical as the rest of the those in the hallway block, walls and floor paneled in pale metal and lit by a couple strands of artificial light that ran parallel along the ceiling. The only sound came from the machinery in the center of the room surrounding a simple bed, that Rhys approached slowly, stopping at the side of the bed to look down with a cold glance.

Laying on the bed before him, pale as the sheets covering his lower body, was Vasquez.

The man was completely still, not even his eyelids fluttering as he lay against the bed. His bare, shaved chest just slightly fell and rose, the only indicator that he was still living. He was connected to various machines through electrodes in his chest and arms and temples, monitoring his low, steady vitals.

Rhys’ eye scanned over the man’s body, his ECHOeye providing him with information beyond that of the machines hooked up to the still form. It narrowed on the mess of bandages visible from where the spread across the back of the man’s neck. The skin around the bandages was slightly reddened, but from both his regular and ECHO eye he could see no sign of infection, which was good.

Rhys heard the door behind him open and shut, smiling as a familiar musky scent filled his nose. Seconds later, a warm chuckle graced his ears as strong arms wound around his waist. Rhys smirked, leaning back into the embrace and turning his head.

“Hey, sweetheart.” Jack crooned, nuzzling against Rhys’ temple. The omega let out a happy, satisfied noise as he relaxed in Jack’s arms, his hand sliding down to his waist to rest against the muscled forearms folded over his stomach.

“Hey yourself…when did you get access to this room?”

Jack snorted against Rhys’ cheek, kissing him at the corner of his eye.

“Is there any reason a room would be off limits to Handsome Jack? _All_ of these doors accept my identity markers. Simple.”

“I _told_ you to meet me outside and wait.”

“Yeah, okay, whatever. I wanted to see how your little project is going. I’m just tryin’ to be _supportive_.”He rubbed his fingers idly against his omega’s stomach.

“So uh. How’s he doing?” Jack nodded towards the bed where Vasquez lay. Rhys’ smirk twisted at the ends.

“Why don’t you tell me yourself? Take a whiff.”

He feels Jack inhale and exhale hot against his neck, followed by a couple more cursory sniffs. Rhys looked to the man out of the corner of his eyes, watching Jack’s eyebrows furrow, nostrils flaring.

“Huh….I got nothing.”

Rhys’ wide smile was belied by the dark twinkle in his eyes as he turned his head fully towards Jack.

“That’s right. Absolutely no scent. It’s like smelling a piece of paper.”

Jack’s eyes flicked to Rhys, a grin of wicked realization growing over his lips.

“Oh pumpkin. You’re _evil_.”

“You’re one to talk,” Rhys rested his head back against the alpha, rubbing the nape of his neck against his shoulder. “There’s a nice little implant attached between his fifth and sixth cervical vertebrae. Injects some _intense_ antialphagens and scent blockers. Shocks him if it detects aggression, too. Just one of the many neat things we make down here in Cybernetics.”

Jack couldn’t suppress the little shivers that went through him as he listened to Rhys, the dark tone on the omega’s tongue going right to his loins.

“I’m thinking of giving him to the Maternity Ward once he’s finished. Make him deal with pregnant omegas for the rest of his life.” Rhys trailed his finger over where Jack’s broad hand was splayed idly over his middle.

“Mmmm. Still think you should have let me castrate him. At least.” Rhys chuckled softly, turning his head to kiss Jack’s cheekbone.

“I mean. I guess it would have had a similar result…All those blockers being pumped into him have basically destroyed any sign of him being an alpha.”

“Mmm. Yeah, but there’s nothing quite as satisfying as ripping off your enemy’s balls with your bare hands. Trust me. They pop like little grapes.”

“You know, talking about ripping off people’s balls isn’t as romantic as you probably think it is.” Rhys teased with a smile. 

“Mmmm. Fair ‘nough. You know what _is_ romantic, though?”

“Severed heads? Piles of dead bandits? Alpha cage fighting?” Jack chuckled against Rhys’ skin, planting little kisses on the omega’s throat, starting where his shoulder met his neck.

“All good ideas, kitten, but I was thinking of—” _kiss_ , “—you—” _kiss_ , “—me—” _kiss,_ “—my place. Dinner and a view. What do you say?”

“You’ve already tried dinner and a view, Jack. Though…maybe if I get a glimpse of something else…I might be convinced.” Rhys replied cheekily, face flushed ever so slightly from the onslaught of kisses.

“Hey, I didn’t specify, did I?”

* * *

Yvette and Vaughn both agreed to babysit Cyrus for the night, arguing that the boy would feel safer with the both of them there than just one, which Rhys couldn’t really say no to. He’d made sure that Cyrus had his favorite stuffed robot with him, the one that smelled strongly of the omega, before he kissed and hugged his young son, and left to meet Jack up at his penthouse.

He was dressed head to toe in sleek black, broken up only by a crisp white dress shirt and gold trim that ran down his lapels and over the cuffs of his jacket. His chest puffed with pride and power and eagerness as he waltzed over to the elevator that would lead him up to Jack’s penthouse, feeling giddy with excitement when his palm signature was accepted and he was granted access to the most private place on all of Helios.

Jack was in the same rare form he had been on his first date. Still as darkly jovial and crass as ever—Rhys figured that wasn’t something that ever left the man—but there was an undercurrent of affection that ran through the alpha in the ways he looked at Rhys, the way he slid his hand up the omega’s thigh underneath the table. Rhys could smell Jack’s plans in the back of his throat, making the omega feel warm and flushed with pheromones. Eventually, Rhys just ended up setting down his fork, halfway through the dessert that Jack made—honestly he had never expected the alpha to have such a domestic skill—and straight up asked him if he wanted to skip forward to having _Rhys_ for dinner instead.

It wasn’t long before the omega found himself pinned against the alpha’s massive bed—Jack’s form above him washed in the purple, ethereal light coming from the massive window looking out into space—being thoroughly ravished. Rhys’ clothing had been stripped from him and tossed over the edge of the bed, leaving him in his underwear for a scant moment before those were pulled away as well. Jack’s equally nude form soon pressed up against the omega, broad hands holding Rhys’ wrists as alpha canines raked down his throat and dug into his collarbone. Rhys moaned at the contact, Jack’s hot breath condensing on his skin, his heels digging into the sheets as he writhed about on the alpha’s bed.

Rhys clung tightly onto Jack as soon as the alpha prepared to enter him, Rhys already loose and dripping with slick. He let out small, breathy wails as he wrapped his legs around the alpha’s waist, pulling him in closer, needing Jack deep inside of him. As soon as Jack’s cock slid into him Rhys let out a strangled moan, claws digging into Jack’s back as the alpha started to fuck him—slow, sensual, but with undeniable power behind those hips. It had been so long since Rhys had had any sex at all, and much longer since he had been _properly_ pleasured by an alpha that it wasn’t long before the omega was coming, hips arching up and painting his stomach with release as slick oozed around Jack’s hammering cock. Rhys protested little as Jack fucked into his loose, oversensitive body, and let out a soft noise of pleasure when the alpha finally knotted him, spilling his load messily inside of the omega’s hole.

The solid, comforting weight of the alpha’s knot sent satisfied hormones thrumming through Rhys’ body, turning the omega into a boneless, happy little thing that wrapped Jack up in his arms and desperately nuzzled at his throat. In turn, Jack peppered him in lazy kisses, keeping their bodies pressed together as they cuddled into the tangled sheets.

* * *

After the roadblock that had been the incident with Vasquez, Rhys’ life finally started to get on track as everything fell back into place.

His project with Cybernetics had been a complete success, and so far the Maternity Ward had experienced no complaints with their latest “employee.” Rhys had received yet another promotion and a pay boost, and of course, new fuel for his ego.

Additionally, Jack had started inviting Rhys to his apartment more and more, even encouraging him to bring Cyrus along on those night where he _didn’t_ have ulterior motives for the omega. Rhys noticed that several things in his old apartment—especially things belonging to Cyrus—would go missing, only to turn up at Jack’s penthouse upon their next visit. When Rhys found his son’s favorite Loaderbot toy placed atop the coffee table in Jack’s living room, he knew it was time. 

However, Jack beat him to the punch.

“Move in with me.” The alpha stated to him one night, when the two were curled up in bed together. Rhys lifted his head from where it had been resting on Jack’s bare chest, looking down at the alpha with wide eyes.

“What?”

Jack’s hand pressed against Rhys’ cheek, the tips of his fingers stroking lightly through the loose hair at Rhys’ temple.

“Move in with me, Rhysie, come on. I gotta have you, cupcake. You and the kiddo. I want you to be mine.” He leaned up, kissing carefully on Rhys’ chin, a small smile dancing on his lips.

“Don’t make me beg, sweetheart.” Rhys chuckled softly, rolling his eyes.

“I don’t know, Jack, I think I’d like to see _you_ on your knees for a change.” The omega teasingly trailed his fingers down the alpha’s hairy chest.

“C’mon, Rhysie…” The omega smirked, leaning in close, his mouth hovering just inches above Jack’s own.

“Hmm, I guess it wouldn’t be nice of me to make an old alpha kneel and beg. You might pull something.” Jack snorted, smacking Rhys a little in the side as the omega let out a breathy giggle.

“Okay, _fine_ , here I am trying to be all nice and romantic and crap…” Jack petulantly turned his head to the side, only for Rhys to press a smirking kiss to his cheek.

“We both know you kind of suck at that, but…” Jack turned towards the omega, his lips greeted by the soft press of Rhys’ own, “Cyrus has been leaving his toys all over this place, and it would be easier so….yeah, Jack. I’d love to.”

The next day Rhys had packed up most of his and Cyrus’ stuff from their old apartment, and soon enough they were settled in. Rhys clothes mingled in with Jack’s own in the CEO’s massive wardrobe, and Cyrus’ toys were thoroughly strewn over the floor of his own room before Rhys tucked the child in for bedtime. After closing the door to Cyrus’ bedroom, the omega took a moment to look around the living room, taking in a deep breath of the woven scents that were quickly turning Jack’s penthouse in a _home_.

The young omega turned his head, and through the open bedroom door he could see Jack sitting on their bed, braced up against the headboard with a pair of black glasses balanced on his nose as he flicked through a glowing tablet. Rhys smiled softly, the man’s warm chest and soothing scent inviting him, and soon enough Rhys joined his alpha in bed, cuddling up next to Jack and eventually falling asleep against him.

* * *

Everything was going well for Rhys. Perfectly, in fact.

 

And then he started to feel sick.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heck!! I'm sorry for taking so long to get this chapter out! This fic is in no way abandoned, I've just been sidelined by other projects, the Borderlands Gift Exchange, the holidays, con prep, moving....just a lot of things! But here it is! Its clocking it at over 5k words too so I hope an extra long chapter will make up for the delay!
> 
> I hope you all enjoy this <3 mostly fluff, with a touch of angst hehe

 

The sickness had been little more than a nuisance at first, a tugging nausea in his belly in the morning andoccasionally throughout the day. Sometimes, he would throw up his dessert from the night before, whimpering sourly at the loss of such good ice cream, but beyond that minor annoyance he tried not to think much of it.

But when it persisted, intermittently, over the course of a week or so, Rhys could feel panic starting to rise up in his throat every time his stomach churned in a sickeningly _familiar_ way. Rhys had been hunched over the toilet in Jack’s bathroom, throwing up for the second time this morning—the first time resulting in Jack insisting that he stay home for the day in order to kick this bug once and for all—when a troubling thought bloomed up in his brain that he quickly quelled. Because, honestly, it just _couldn’t_ be.

It was just a little flu. Just some nausea. Not a big deal at all, nothing to panic about. Certainly not _that_. No reason to go to the doctor, right. Hahaha _ha_.

It was only when Rhys nearly had a breakdown during a cybernetics meeting full of alphas and betas that he decided that something needed to be done about this “sickness _._ ”

It happened almost two weeks after the initial nausea had started to settle in, the early morning illness now replaced by a prickling feeling of dread that crawled up his spine every time he wasn’t in the penthouse, or at the very least by Jack’s side. The simmering fear had exploded when a young alpha had come up and tried to shake his hand after the meeting, at which point Rhys had flinched back and let out a defensive keen. As soon as Rhys had finished profusely apologizing to both the stunned alpha and the rest of the confused congregation before dismissing them, he knew he could no longer live in pretend ignorance. So with his mind swirling with dread, he shyly carted himself off to the doctor, a young beta who was all smiles and careful movements as he took Rhys’ blood. He’d swung his feet as he sat on the examining table, the toes of his boots rubbing against the ground as he twiddled his thumbs, waiting for the doctor’s verdict, and when it finally came, Rhys felt his mouth go dry as his worries were confirmed.

The doctor gave him pamphlets on his options, but Rhys was too numb to do anything other than loosely grasp them in his hands as he left the clinic. He felt sick, his head spinning, and _not_ because of the—of the _baby_ growing inside of him. He clasped a hand over his mouth, trying to calm down his breathing as he stole away into the hospital bathroom, locking himself in the stall and leaning forward on his elbow against the wall of the stall. Panicked breaths seeped past his hands as tears leaked down his face, anxiety gripping at him as he found himself in the same position— _again_.

Jack was going to hate him. Jack was going to _leave_. He was going to leave and Rhys would have to deal with a pregnancy all alone again. Again, again, again—it was all happening _again_ and Rhys’ couldn’t take it.

He’d sat against the tile floor, back braced up against the side of the toilet with his hands folded over his neck, until he’d finally managed to wrangle control of his breathing. The tears had eventually dried on his cheeks, the high, panicked emotion settling into a sick dread in his stomach.

He couldn’t tell him. He couldn’t. Rhys let out a weak little moan, shaking his head as he tried to calm down.

There had to be some kind of way out of this.

* * *

To his luck, Jack sent him a message on his ECHO saying that he would be working late, and to go on and have dinner with Cyrus without him so the kid wouldn’t have to stay up past bedtime. Rhys found such relief at the message and the scant bit of time that it gave him to plan his way around this sudden roadblock. He hurried out of the hospital, stuffing the pregnancy pamphlets into the trash can and picking up a bottle of cologne soaked heavy in vanilla bean and amber from a shop in the Hub of Heroism before scurrying on back to the penthouse. Vaughn dropped Cyrus off from school not long after, the boy happily nuzzling into his the omega’s neck as soon as Rhys picked him up.

“Mom, you smell really really really good!” The boy chirped, hugging Rhys close as he took in a loud sniff. Rhys chuckled a little at that, patting his son on the back as he carried him into the kitchen.

“It’s just a new cologne, sweetie.” Rhys assured as he sat his son down on one of the barstools pulled up against the kitchen counter. The boy nodded with a little “oh, okay!” before munching on the carrots and peanut butter crackers Rhys pulled out of the fridge and pantry and launching into a babble about how teacher had started to tell them about multiplication tables, and how Uncle Vaughn had offered to help if Cyrus ever got stuck on his homework. Rhys smiled softly at his son’s story, dabbing at Cyrus’ face with a napkin before helping the boy down from his barstool and leading him into the living room to watch some of the kids programming that Cyrus loved. His son happily cuddled into his side, resting his head on Rhys’ upper abdomen as the omega wrapped an arm around his son and rubbed his little shoulder with a smile.

Without Jack in the penthouse, Rhys could at least pretend that things were totally normal. It was just him and Cyrus, enjoying each other’s company and watching some wholesome kids shows, just like they had before they had moved in with Jack. Rhys could just enjoy the instinctual warmth of his son and ignore the worrying surprise growing inside of him and the mate that he still wasn’t sure whether to inform or not.

He left Cyrus for a couple of minutes when the boy eagerly agreed to his suggestion of having mac n’ cheese for dinner—a dish that Rhys _knew_ he could cook—coming back as soon as the fancy cheeses and noodles from Jack’s kitchen were simmering away in the high-end crockpot. Rhys was still getting used to all the technology around Jack’s penthouse in general, much less his kitchen. He worried every time he turned something on that he’d end up burning the entire place down.

Cyrus was snuggled into the same spot when Rhys came back, his favorite yellow robot blanket wrapped tightly around him as he hugged a throw pillow to his chest. He cuddled back into Rhys as soon as the omega sat down and resumed the program. Rhys softly stroked Cyrus hair, feeling himself relax back into the couch as he lazily worked his finger through his son’s soft locks.

“Mom?” Cyrus turned his head, looking up at his parent. Rhys tilted his head down, a warm smile on his face as he tightened his arm around Cyrus’ middle.

“What is it, buddy?”

“Can I ask you a question?”

“Sure thing, Cy.”

“Is…is it okay if I call Mr. Handsome daddy?” Rhys stiffened a little, lips parting slightly at his son’s request. Well…it had certainly been a little bit _implied_ since they had moved in with Jack, considering the nature of his and Rhys’ relations.

“I know…he beat up mean daddy, right? Does that mean he can be mine now?” Cyrus looked up at Rhys with big eyes. Clearly hopeful.

“I…well, I’m sure he’d love that, Cyrus.” Rhys said, perhaps not as confidently as he wanted, but Cyrus didn’t seem to notice, if the way his unsure face brightened up was any indication.

They settled back into a comfortable, warm silence, occasionally broken with Cyrus’ questions or babbles about the programs they were watching. The little boy was resting comfortably against Rhys, hands settled on the cybernetic arm wrapped around his little waist. Rhys could feel him starting to nod off, when suddenly there was the electronic _beep_ of the security system, followed by the _click_ of the door and Jack’s booming voice.

“Guess who’s home, kiddos!” Jack strode confidently into the living room, chest puffed out and a sharp smile on his face, like he was in front of a massive audience rather than just the omega and his son. Cyrus mumbled at the entrance, rubbing his eyes and blinking up at Jack, before a broad smile spread across his face.

“Daddy!” Cyrus exclaimed before Rhys could stop him, hopping off the couch and running to hug Jack’s legs. Rhys crept over from the couch, watching nervously as a soft bit of surprise flashed over Jack’s features, but it passed quickly, and soon the alpha was picking Cyrus up, spinning the kid around before pulling him in close, kissing him on top of his head with a wider, but gentler grin. 

“ _Heyyy_ , kiddo, you’re a sight for sore eyes.” Jack chuckled, resting Cyrus more fully onto his hip as he shuffled towards the couch, where Rhys had hopped up from his seat, hands nervously fidgeting behind his back. Cyrus nuzzled happily against the alpha’s chest, instinctively getting his scent all over as he pressed closer with a smile. Jack bobbed the kid gently with one arm, while the other hand drew Rhys’ wrist up, crowding his space. 

Rhys tried to suppress his flinch, his anxious instinct to curl away from Jack, instead letting the alpha bring him close and kiss him. His heart nearly stopped when Jack took a deep inhale, breath curling on his fangs as he gave Rhys a bright grin.

“Smells good, sweetheart, _too_ good for you cooking. Did you have help?”

“I helped mom!” Cyrus exclaimed, wiggling happily in Jack’s arms.

“Aw, you did didn’t you buddy? That’s my boy, didn’t get any of your mama’s cruddy cooking skills.”

Rhys rolled his eyes and stuck his tongue out at the alpha.

“ _Okay_ , I did raise a kid for five years on my own, I know _some_ of the basics thank you very much.”

“It’s true daddy, mom makes really good mac n’ cheese! Promise!” Cyrus nodded, pointing in the direction of the kitchen. Jack snickered, leaning in to tap briefly against the kid’s nose.

“Mmm, I’ll trust you for now, kiddo, but if you’re wrong, I’m gonna have Cyrus Casserole for dinner!” Jack laughed as he bared his fangs in jest, Cyrus squealing in mock-horror as he was spirited off to the kitchen in the CEO’s arms.

* * *

Rhys’ heart beat a little less frantically during dinner, the smell of three different kinds of melting cheese and crispy bacon—per Jack’s request—masking most of the scents of those gathered at the table. Rhys tried to act nice and calm, occasionally interjected in the banter between Jack and Cyrus as the former asked about the child’s day.

The meal passed pleasantly enough, with Rhys largely able to lose himself in the chatter between his son and Jack, occasionally quipping or riffing on one of Jack’s jokes in between mouthfuls of mac n’ cheese. He grew a little worried that Jack would notice just how much food he was packing away, but Jack seemed more interested in talking to Cyrus about the awesome plans for new robots he had doodled during lunch at school.

Cyrus was already yawning and starting to rub his eyes as he helped Rhys clear the table, the omega passing a knowing look onto Jack as he rinsed the plates and stuck them into his fancy dishwasher.

“All right, kiddo, up ya go, time for bed.” The alpha spoke as he bent down to pick Cyrus up, rocking the child against his chest even as he whined.

“Nooo…” Cyrus mumbled, though he rested and nuzzled against Jack’s chest, letting out another soft yawn. Rhys wiped his hands together and smiled, leaning in to place a tender kiss on his son’s cheek.

“Come on, buddy, lets get you into your Loaderbot PJs, okay? Daddy can help you.” Rhys soothed, smoothing the boy’s hair into place even as he burrowed into Jack’s chest and messed it up even further.

Before long, the boy was tucked away in his bed, holding onto his robot plush as Rhys softly closed the door behind him. A soft clap from Jack quickly shut off the rest of the lights in the kitchen and living room as him and the omega wound their fingers together and made their way back to the bedroom.

Rhys soon sat curled up in the bed, mouth freshly tasting of toothpaste and clad in the new silky pajamas Jack had bought him the week previously. The alpha had holed himself up in the bathroom with the tap running, washing his face—the face _below_ his mask, Rhys assumed, due to the closed door—leaving the omega briefly alone with his thoughts, mulling over the events of the day until the lock clicked and Jack emerged—mask on, hair damp and disheveled, scarred and tan body fully on display aside from the scant yellow boxers clinging to his hips.

Rhys felt a stirring in his loins at the sight, but the worried thoughts were beating any arousal that he might want to act on as the alpha slipped into his bed. So instead, Rhys reached forward, fingers dancing on Jack’s thigh as the man settled in next to him.

“So….so that’s okay, right?”

Jack gave him a confused look.

“What’s okay, pumpkin?”

Rhys hummed, twisted the bedsheets in his hands.

“Cyrus…you know, calling you dad and all.”

Jack tilted his head to the side, tousled hair spilling over his temple.

“Well…I mean, I thought it was already a bit…y’know…”

“Sorry…I guess I’ve just been…I dunno, dodging around it a little bit? Hahaha…” Rhys’ voice broke a little nervously as he rubbed his cybernetic wrist. Jack let out a small snort, shaking his head.

“Sweetheart, we’ve already moved in together…”

“I _know_ that, but, still….I didn’t know the exact extent of how far you wanted to take this.”

Jack snorted, relaxing back into bed with his hands tucked behind his head.

“Fair enough.” The silence stretched out between them, Rhys looking nervously at the alpha. Jack stuck out his lower lip, clearly in thought, and Rhys felt too worried to break it until Jack spoke up.

“Listen, Rhysie…I’m down to be the kid’s daddy, if that’s what’s gonna make him happy. Even yours too, if the situation calls for it. I’m flexible.” Jack teased with a dirty smirk, which earned him a small shove and a snort from the omega.

“Hehe. In your dreams, Jack.” Rhys tittered as the alpha laid back against the bed, one hand tucked behind the head and the other patting invitingly against his pecs.

Rhys hesitated in resting his head against Jack’s welcoming chest, the nagging fear of what he’d learned earlier today still brewing in his stomach, but he found he couldn’t resist the draw of his magnetic alpha. So Rhys laid down and snuggled close to him, fingers trailing softly over Jack’s stomach until his hand settled over his chest. He could feel the alpha’ heart throbbing underneath his skin as he inhaled deeply, nuzzling against one of Jack’s strong pecs. He wrapped one arm around Rhys’ shoulder, rubbing his upper arm as he hugged Rhys close and placed a small kiss on the top of his head. With his alpha’s scent heavy in his nose, Rhys managed to drift off to sleep after a little while, his previous worry slowly ebbing away as pleasant dreams overtook him.

* * *

Rhys’ anxiety went up and down over the next few days. When he was able to forget about the new life that was growing inside of him, he was fine, as cool and calm and cunning as he ever was. He ran his meetings properly, managing to tamp down the instinctual nerves that flared whenever a foreign alpha moved too abruptly or spoke out of turn. He noticed Jack looking at him a little stranger, sniffing at the air around him, opening his mouth whenever Rhys asked him what was wrong, only to shut it and shake his head, muttering. Rhys tapped his foot against the floor whenever he was sitting along at his desk, snatching his hand away from his stomach whenever he caught himself cradling it.

Jack being called away to an extended expedition down on the southern hemisphere of Pandora was a slight balm to Rhys anxiety. He was there to see Jack off in the hangar, kissing and scenting with his alpha, making sure Jack’s hands remained on his back and didn’t move over to feel up his abdomen.

Rhys knew he couldn’t deny the truth forever, and he _certainly_ couldn’t hide it from Jack for even half as long. Sooner or later, there would be either a swollen bump or a newborn baby to explain away.

His body was constantly jittery, confused as to whether he wanted his alpha back by his side or as far away from him as possible. Pregnancy hormones warred against the terror of being abandoned inside of the young omega, reducing him to a tearful mess of frustration more than once in the days immediately following Jack’s departure.

* * *

It was a week into Jack’s assignment when he decided to finally set Cyrus down after a meal of spaghetti and meatballs, bobbing the boy on his lap as he tried to explain what exactly was going on.

“So, uh…” Rhys faltered, before picking up Cyrus’ little wrist and pressing the boy’s palm against the slight swell of his stomach. Cyrus glanced up at him curiously, cocking his head to his side as he waited for his mother to continue.

“Cyrus…you know, when sometimes you see other omegas with their children, and they have, well…they have a lot of babies, right?”

“Um…yeah? Some of them have a bunch of babies. Miss Evie says that her mama had four babies! So she has three sisters! Isn’t that cool?” Cyrus smiled brightly, kicking his legs underneath the table.

“Yeah…yeah, that’s great…so, um….like? I think I might be…no um. Well, mama’s gonna…he’s gonna have another baby…” Rhys finished rather lamely. Cyrus’ blinked at him for a few second, before looking down at Rhys’ belly, his eyes growing to the size of dinner plates. 

“You mean I’m gonna have a baby sibling!” Cyrus gasped, quickly putting both hands on Rhys’ abdomen. “They’re gonna grow inside your tummy…is there even enough room in there?”

“There was enough room for you, buddy.” Rhys chuckled, running the fingers of his other hand through Cyrus’ hair, trying to tame those stubborn little locks. Cyrus let out an awed little noise, tiny hands planting on Rhys’ belly, marveling.

“Don’t tell daddy though, all right? I want it to be a surprise.” Cyrus nodded, lifting his hands to cover his mouth.

“I won’t! Promise!” The boy exclaimed behind his muffling hands, before Rhys ruffled his hair one last time and shooed his son off to have a bath.

* * *

A month dragged on since Jack had been gone, and Rhys was starting to get worried, despite his complicated feelings towards the alpha at the moment. He was jumpy throughout the day, even as he tried to keep his cool amongst the alpha’s jostling him for answers and advice in Handsome Jack’s stead. He was starting to show under his normal clothes now, the roundness in his belly evident as soon as he tucked his dress shirts into his pants, which left him with no other choice than to opt for baggier clothes and even more layers. Which helped with his appearance—even if he felt like he looked like a shapeless bag—but did very little for his nerves. Eventually, he started to feel far too jittery, and the night after a particularly trying day he was relieved to hear his ECHO go off. Happiness quickly dispelled the worry once he saw his alpha’s face, however lined with tiredness it was. Rhys smiled softly, tucking an errant lock of hair behind his ear as he finally got the chance to catch up with the alpha.

Jack was not happy about the way his absence had been stressing Rhys out, quickly agreeing to have one of his body doubles take care and help manage Helios in Jack’s stead, which took part, though not all, of the weight off of Rhys’ shoulders. The omega curled up on his side in bed, hugging the comforters close to his stomach, the blue light of the ECHO glowing back on his face.

“Sorry about all this, pumpkin. Looks like it’s going to take a little bit longer than usual. Frikkin’ bandits like a god damn thorn in my side. And Vladof’s tryin’ to move in on the mines in the southeast hemisphere ain’t doing much for my planet-sized migraine.” Jack sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

“Sucks I can’t smell ya through the ECHO. Should get some nerd on that. Make me some more millions banking off desperate alphas suffering in long-distance relationships.” Jack gave him a wry smile. “I swear though…you don’t know what you got ’til it’s gone, I guess.”

Now, Rhys hadn’t even thought about that. Even though Jack’s presence was missing from the penthouse, the entire space still _smelled_ like him, still calmed Rhys when he started to badly need his mate. Jack didn’t have that, he was stuck in whatever high-security Hyperion facility he’d been holed up in down on Pandora, full of sterile, sucked-dry scent and not much else. Rhys hummed, tapping his fingers on his chin as he thought. 

“Maybe I can send you something that smells like me? Would that help?”

“Babe, if you’re gonna send me your underwear, then I—“

“God, _no_ , Jack, don’t be gross.” Rhys pulled a face. “I was thinking like a shirt or a scarf or some—”Rhys cut himself off as he noticed Jack’s eyes glittering at that.

“Scarves, huh? Don’t think I’ve seen you wear those before, sweetheart. Love to see something sheer wrapping all tight around your pretty neck… _mm_!”

“You keep talking like that, Jack, and I’m sending you one of my socks.”

* * *

One morning, Rhys drug himself out of bed, mumbling as he ambled towards the bathroom. His hand came down to cup the gentle swell of his belly through his T-shirt, keeping himself balanced as he shrugged off his boxers before pulling his shirt up over his head. He turned on the water to the shower, testing the heat with his palm before stepping in. He felt the muscles in his body unwind under the warmth of the water, a pleased groan spilling from his lips as the soothing water cascaded against his skin.

Rhys shifted the weight, rubbing his hips as he felt a twinge shoot up from his legs. His feet were starting to hurt. He scowled, looking accusingly down at them—though he supposed he should be grateful that he could still _see_ his feet. That would change soon enough…Rhys groaned, shaking the thoughts of later pregnancy woes from his head as he pooled shampoo in his palm, massaging it through his hair. 

He’d probably have to get a chair for the shower when that time came around. He hadn’t carried that heavily with Cyrus, and even then the later weeks of pregnancy had been a chore when it came to showering. And considering the fact that his belly was already getting this round only a month or so into it, Rhys had a feeling he would be pretty huge before long.

A brief terror had gripped him when he thought that it could’ve been _twins_ , but yet another anxious visit to the doctor’s office had confirmed that no, there was only one child inside him. _One healthy, perfect little child_ , the doctor had said with a smile.

Rhys couldn’t help smiling softly himself as he pressed his sudsy hands over the small round bump forming between his hips. He’d gradually gotten used to the idea that he was going to have another baby. He’d forgotten the pleasant flush of pregnancy hormones that coursed through even the bodies of un-bonded omegas, fostering attachment to the little unborn creature growing inside. Rhys was trying his best to manage Jack’s penthouse while simultaneously taking care of himself, taking the proper vitamins and getting rest whenever Cyrus wasn’t in the mood for play.

Rhys lifted his hands temporarily to scrub the shampoo from his hair, the slight scratch of his nails against his scalp feeling nice to his sore body.

He’d have to send some kind of a gift to Jack’s body double for taking over for him so he could get the proper amount of rest, as well as keep clear from alphas who might end up getting nosey, or worse, _violent_ upon scenting an omega steadily progressing through pregnancy. Though honestly, Rhys had no idea which of Jack’s presumably many body doubles was helping him out right now. There was still so much about the man and the inner workings of his personal life that Rhys still did not understand, even after living with the CEO for quite some time now.

Rhys lost track of himself under the soothing pressure of the shower, only remembering to turn it off once he realizes his fingertips were starting to grow pruny. Bracing himself against the bar inside the shower stall, Rhys carefully eased his way out onto the tile floor, pulling a large fluffy yellow towel from the rack and beginning to dry himself off. As soon as he was finished tousling his hair free from water save for a few errant droplets, he wound the towel around his hips and under his growing belly, knotting it at his hip before groping around for the doorknob. 

The first thing Rhys noticed upon opening the door was that all of the lights were on. The omega blinked in confusion for a moment, sure that he had left only the nightstand reading light on when he had decided to take a shower. Perplexed, Rhys turned to close the door behind him, only for a deep and familiar voice suddenly whisper into his ear from behind.

_“Gotcha!”_

Rhys started, letting out a shocked yelp as broad hands wrapped around his middle, the warm chuckling of his alpha suddenly filling his ears as he felt warm breath heavy with Jack’s scent tumble over his neck. Rhys squirmed for a moment before freezing in place as he fully grasped what was happening.

_Jack—_

Jack’s hands were _there._

Rhys stared down at his middle, utterly horrified as he saw that Jack’s large, thick hands were splayed directly over his obviously pregnant stomach. His voice stuck in his throat, only small creaks of surprise stealing from him as he looked on in terror. His heart seized in his chest as Jack’s finger started to move, _feeling_ , and Rhys could hear the puffs of air coming from the alpha’s nose as his face pressed in closer to Rhys’ neck, taking in the sweet scent that Rhys had tried so hard to keep from him over these past few months.

And then Jack’s hands on him moved from searching to solidly cupping his belly, and Rhys lost it.

The omega let out a terrified yelp, tearing out of Jack’s arms and nearly falling over as he stumbled away from his alpha. He hunched over next to the foot of the bed, arms wrapped tightly around his middle. His heart was pounding in his ears, and even the smell of his alpha couldn’t do much to calm the fear that blossomed in his brain.

_This was it_.

Rhys could stop his heavy breathing from breaking into hoarse sobs, tears suddenly prickling at his eyes as he stood stock still, refusing to speak or look at Jack.

_He was going to leave he was going to leave, Rhys was going to be hurt and left all alone again, and he couldn’t take it_.

Jack stayed quiet and still for so long that Rhys wondered if he had left, abandoned him to his terror and shame. Maybe that would have been for the best, Rhys could just gather Cyrus and their things up and leave, and forget this whole thing had ever happened.

“Rhysie….” The low rumble of Jack’s voice startled Rhys from his fugue, but the omega remained stiff and turned away from the alpha, not wanting to look into the man’s eyes, to confirm what he had feared all along. He let out a scared whimper, his knees shuddering together and threatening to give out.

Warm breath on the back of his neck nearly made the omega fall to the floor. He could feel Jack chuffing and scenting along his neck, carefully pressing his nose into the side of Rhys’ throat. The omega tried to curl away, but his instincts fought him, dying for his alpha’s touch, for the father of his child to take him into his arms and hold him, to keep him safe after all these long weeks.

Rhys finally turned his head over his shoulder when Jack kept still for a long while. Through his watery sight he could see that Jack was still silently pressed against the side of Rhys’ neck, his lips softly touching the omega’s flesh. His eyes were half open, staring past Rhys into empty space, before flicking up to meet Rhys’ eyes as soon as the omega turned to look at him.

_Jack….he didn’t look mad_. Rhys noted, even as his heart continued to thump in his chest. He fell the alpha’s hand come up to his hip, merely grazing Rhys’ with his fingers, not daring to grab the omega, as if _he_ were afraid of Rhys leaving him.

The two men stood completely still for so long that Rhys lost track, the omega steadily relaxing into the warmth of the alpha behind him. Jack grew more bold, settling his hand fully on Rhys’ hip. He rubbed it gently, before creeping over to replace over the soft swell of the omega’s belly.

A quiet, marveling chuckle hummed into the side of Rhys’ neck. The omega slowly turned around in Jack’s arms, the alpha’s hand remaining on his stomach as he pulled away from Rhys’ throat, his eyes falling momentarily to Rhys’ stomach.

“You know…I _thought_ , I thought before I left, that something was up with you…” Jack murmured. “I….Rhys?”

Rhys only realized tears were welling up in his eyes when Jack touched his chin, carefully tipping it the omega’s face towards him.

“Rhysie…baby, don’t cry. C’mon, don’t do this.” Jack hushed, shaking his head.

“I…I’m sorry…” Rhys whimpered, snorting and rubbing at his nose as he pulled his face away from Jack hand. “I…Jack, I was really f-reaked out…”

“ ‘Bout what, sweetheart?”

“Well…I mean…you remember that whole thing with my…my ex leaving me…uh, kind of a little bit of a big deal. Kind of really sucked. And I guess I just thought…”

“You thought I’d be another asshole alpha looking to ditch after knocking you up,” Jack frowned, his fingers still rubbing slowly over Rhys’ middle, “I get it kitten, but come on, give me a lil’ credit.”

“I _know_.” Rhys huffed, crossing his arms over his belly, “it’s stupid, but I was _scared_. You can’t blame me for being scared…”

“I said I get it, sweetheart. You don’t gotta explain any more” Jack lowered his voice, one hand remaining on the omega’s stomach as the other wound around his waist, drawing him closer.

“So…” Rhys’ voice was still small as he rubbed at his eyes, looking up at his alpha. “You….you’re not mad? You want this?”

For the first time, Jack’s mouth broke out into a smile, pleased canines even poking a little bit over his lips.

“Another little me running around, though? Sweetheart, this is going to be friggin’ _great_.” Jack’s eyes were glowing with delight as he dropped down to his knees in front of the omega, both palms now cupping the gentle bump of Rhys’ stomach as he leaned forward and peppered it with eager kisses.

“You’re gonna grow up to be a big strong hero just like me, huh? A little Hyperion heir on the way! This is the best homecoming news I could have asked for, babe.” He placed a little kiss right on Rhys’ belly button, making the omega giggle and crack a smile as his shaky fingers combed through Jack’s hair. He took a deep, pleased breath, finally absorbing his alpha’s scent, letting it sink into his bones and make him feel warm and loved and _safe_.

“Cyrus is going to be happy to see you….I bet he’s going to scream. He’s been asking every day, _when is daddy coming home, when is daddy coming home_?” Rhys whispered, tucking a ruffled piece of Jack’s hair behind his ear.

“Well, daddy’s back now, kitten.” Jack murmured softly, voice slightly muffled against Rhys’ stomach, “and he’s never going to leave you again.”

 


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was determined to get this out before it ended up a year since I've updated, haha.
> 
> Sorry about that, I ended up with so many projects that I kept putting this on the backburner. BUT! This is the last official chapter, with a small epilogue after that will be hopefully posted within the week!
> 
> We're dealing with mostly mpreg fluff in this chapter, as well as some surprises!
> 
> Thank you guys so much for reading this far, I hope you're all still around for the home stretch! :)

The last seven months with Jack had been pure bliss.

Every morning he’d woken up with his alpha in bed, warming the sheets next to him and covering them in a warm, spicy scent that had instantly made Rhys feel at ease.

He honestly had no metric with which to compare Jack to, in terms of alpha involvement with a pregnancy. Vasquez had been a null presence, utterly absent as Rhys had struggled through pregnancy all on his own.

But Jack had been there to rub cream into his growing belly, there to kiss his neck and calm him down whenever Rhys got anxious or upset. He had been there to hold his hand at his doctor’s appointments, glaring protectively at all the medical personnel as the moved their hands and sensors over the omega’s belly. He had been there when they found out they were having a little boy.He had been there to chuckle and shake his head when he caught Rhys making a nest of sheets and Jack’s clothing in one corner of there room, before sitting down by the snuggly omega and wrapping his arms around his growing middle. He had been there to have an extra room painted and decked out as a nursery, there to take candid pictures of Rhys resting in a rocking chair in the corner, hands resting on his belly as he napped in the light of Elpis.

And to top it all off, one day Jack had come home all excited kisses, to tell Rhys that _it_ was finally ready.

_It_ , being Rhys’ surprise. The omega had expected maybe a nice dinner, or a new suit tailored specifically to his growing form, or maybe an ice cream cart installed in his bedroom so he didn’t have to either get up in the middle of the night and waddle to the freezer or kick Jack awake.

But a massive mansion and a planned island vacation on a luxurious tropical planet was just as nice.

They’d arrived after the smoothest transport ride Rhys had ever taken—whether that was due to the updated luxury of Jack’s personal craft, or a couple of tasteful threats levied at the pilots to drive _extra_ carefully—and without the usual cramp in his thighs and the small of his back that came with long trips Rhys was more than happy to stretch his legs out in the peachy Eden 6 sunlight.

“….Wow…” Was all he could say as he shielded his eyes and peered up the coastal vista, where the mansion sat perfectly perched near the elegant cliffside.

It was _huge_. Rhys was pretty sure he couldn’t even see it all, considering the fans of shimmering fronds that shielded most of the house from the outside, while still keeping a perfect view of the endless ocean from the huge walls of windows sandwiched in between the sharp angles of the modern design. It’s pale blue paint matched nicely to the deep blue sky above and the jeweled, turquoise waves lapping up against the rosy shoreline below.

Rhys breathed deeply, a happy smile curled over his face. Cyrus would love the place, but Rhys had insisted he stay at Helios with Vaughn until school let out for the spring.

Pebbles crunched behind him as a hand slipped around his waist, giving his hips a proud pat.

“So?” Jack grinned at him, holding his hand out as if to cup the mansion in his palm. “What do you think?”

“….I’m shocked it’s not yellow.”

Jack laughed.

“You know, I _was_ gonna paint it yellow, then one of the planners made a big stink about how it’d ruin the natural beauty or something…I was about ready to wring his stupid little neck, but then he showed me that cute little shade of blue, and well…lets just say he’s lucky daddy has a soft spot for robin’s egg.”

The company porters quickly unloaded their luggage from the underbelly of the transport, going ahead so Rhys and Jack could enjoy a leisurely walk without feeling hurried by the idea of unpacking. Rhys appreciated the sights as well as the slower pace—the doctor wanted him walking to help his circulation and mood, but warned him not to strain himself too much. Rhys didn’t think that’d be much of a problem, _especially_ on this trip. Not only was Jack overprotective, but he also had probably stuffed the house full of luxuries and sedentary activities to prevent Rhys from getting either too bored or so antsy he’d want to try and do something risky.

The pup kicked in Rhys’ belly, as if to remind him that _yes_ he had a very good reason to not push himself too much. He chuckled, answering his pup with a soft rub to his stomach that drew Jack’s attention as they walked the flower-rimmed path.

“He giving you trouble?”

“Nah, not too much.” Rhys rubbed his stomach, rucking up the soft material of his shirt. “Just letting me know he’s awake.”

Jack stopped him momentarily. He did this from time to time, interrupting whatever Rhys was doing so he could feel his belly. The omega usually gave in and let him, unless they were someplace embarrassing, but without another stranger for a thousand miles around he allowed it. Jack’s hands felt good on him this far into the pregnancy, with how stretched out and round he’d gotten.

Jack hunched slightly, his hands playing on both sides of Rhys’ belly as he tried to feel for the baby. The omega detected the flutter of the pup against his insides, but that didn’t necessarily mean that Jack would feel anything. But just as he was about to brush Jack’s hands off, the pup suddenly turned, kicking out against Jack’s left palm so hard that it moved.

“A-Ah, that was a big one…” Rhys huffed as Jack smirked, rubbing the spot where the baby had nudged out.

“ _Haha,_ what a strong little pup, look at him…all right, all right, easy, Jack Jr.”

Rhys snorted as Jack’s hands finally left his bump, allowing them to continue their walk towards the mansion.

“You’re not gonna give up on that, huh?”

“Jack’s such a good name, pumpkin. I tell ya. He’ll come right outta the womb with _swagger_.”

“I don’t know if I want my baby having _swagger_ ….and I think _one_ Jack is enough,” he chided gently as the approached the front porch of home, the couple practically dwarfed by the massive pediment, supported by columns intricately carved like honeycomb, with enough holes to make Rhys wonder how it could possibly be holding everything up.

“Some omegas get rings or clothes as gifts…I get a whole house.” Rhys couldn’t help the smug smile that came over him at seeing just how much love and detail had been put into the mansion.

The mansion that his alpha had _built_ for him. How many omegas could say they had an alpha who did half that much?

“Only the best for you, cupcake,” Jack purred as he led through the doors held open by the servants, who met them with expectant smiles.

The inside of the mansion somehow looked bigger than it did on the outside. The ceiling shot upwards, the cool white broken by massive skylights that let in the glow of the tropical sun above.

The western wall of the living room opened up completely with floor to ceiling glass, allowing even more light to shine through onto the sleek black and white decor. Jack had clearly managed to sneak a bit of his own personal tastes past the interior designer, because spots of yellow dotted the walls and floors in the form of modern pantings and the occasional accent pillow tossed artfully on the couches.

“Do you love it, sugar?” Jack purred as he came up behind his mate, hands happily coming to grasp each other over his stomach as he nested his chin on Rhys’ shoulder.

“It…it’s a lot to take in,” he admitted. Though he really did like it. Being with Jack had really whet his taste for luxury, and the pristine home definitely satisfied it more and more with each minute he stood inside.

“Damn right it is. It’s got everything your little heart could desire…” Jack fanned his arm out in the wide space, as if presenting at a gala. “You want the grand tour, huh sugar? May I suggest starting with the master bedroom?”

“How about we _end_ the tour in the bedroom, big guy?” Rhys bumped his butt back against Jack’s as the alpha started to pet his hip with his other hand. “If we do it in the beginning then well…the tour might as well be over before it even begins.”

“Save it for the grand finale, huh? Oh, you _won’t_ be disappointed.”

Rhys laughed as Jack lead him out of the living room and into one of the many hallways branching off into all corners of the mansion.

“I never am.”

* * *

A few days into their vacation, and Rhys was already in heaven.

Jack had everything here that he could possibly need. There was a kitchen stuffed to the brim with everything Rhys could think of craving, and a line of cooks ready to prepare it specifically for him. There was a clinic and a doctor on call if Rhys wanted to see the baby or check in with his health. There was a fully staffed spa ready to massage Rhys’ aching calves or rub lotion into his skin or do his hair. Rhys had to admit he’d sought out their services more than once so far on his vacation, and they’d only been there for a few days. He was still getting used to the idea that people were being paid large salaries to wait on him hand and foot, but gradually—and as he grew more and ungainly and achy—he was starting to get used to it all. 

But there was something that still weighed on the omega’s brain, that fidgeted at the back of his neck, and made the heat in his body spike past the now usual pregnant warmth.

Jack hadn’t yet bonded him.

Part of Rhys had just expected Jack to _go for it_ after learning that the omega was pregnant. It wasn’t entirely unheard of to go about things the way they had, but usually pairs were bonded before having pups, and Rhys had figured Jack would have wanted to play “catch up.” But Jack had never initiated, never brought it up with Rhys, and Rhys had been far too blissed out on pregnancy hormones and basking in the attention Jack was lavishing on him to think much about it.

But now that he was nearing the end of his pregnancy, the topic of bonding was again rearing its head. Rhys found himself dwelling on it whenever he had a quiet moment to himself. At first, he’d been able to keep himself busy with all the activities available to him, as well as the parts of the mansion hidden through virtue of its sheer size, but by the third day he’d started spending his time just sitting alone, thinking.

On the fourth day, he spent most of the morning and afternoon in bed. Or, rather, the hammock bed hanging next to the window in the room he shared with Jack. It was nest-like, forming a cozy little alcove that made him feel nice and comfortable—w _eightless_ , which was pretty important especially as he continued to get bigger. He marveled at how much he’d already grown, worried about how big he could possibly _get_.

Rhys had spent a couple hours watching the television hookup on his palm display, but now he just wanted to enjoy the natural ambience drifting in from the shore. He relaxed, cheek nuzzled against his pillow, hand rubbing down to cradle his belly as he stared out over the sparkling, turquoise waves that stretched out towards the fuzzy horizon, letting their rolling movements lull him into the depths of his own thoughts.

Rhys had encouraged Jack to go out and explore the surrounding cliffside, not wanting to keep his alpha totally cooped up in the mansion just because he had to be. The place was huge, sure, but there were still _walls_ and a ceiling boxing the space in and sometimes a breath of fresh air could do the body good. Rhys sometime sat outside on the porch as well, letting the warm breeze blow in from the ocean and over his relaxing body, but Jack craved something with a little bit more adrenaline. So he’d let him go rock-scrambling down one of the cliffs to a secret little bay full of tide pools that one of the many guides had been gushing about, with the promise that he’d take pictures and bring him back a shell or an interesting rock or two.

Rhys hadn’t had the energy to go out on the porch today, nor downstairs at all, really. He’d only moved to go to the bathroom once or twice, then again to switch from the main bed he shared with Jack to the hammock by the window. Thankfully, the breeze was just as nice up here as it was down on the cliffside porch.

Not so thankfully, all he could think of thanks to the quiet and Jack’s absence was how the alpha hadn’t broached the subject of _bonding_ yet.

The baby was almost here—he kicked at Rhys’ stomach pointedly, as if he could hear the omega’s thoughts. It seemed like the thing to do. Usually the bonding came before the baby, but so far Rhys had kind of bucked the trend in terms of the normal omega life plan. And Jack didn’t seem to bat an eye at his unusual way of going about things, taking it as it came with charm and humor.

_Still_.

He worried his lip, old insecurities starting to float about his mind as he closed his eyes, trying to chase them away with the allure of a nap. But they poked at him, needling.

_Maybe Jack didn’t want to bond._

_Maybe he still wanted a way out._

_Maybe you’re not good enough_.

Rhys tugged the blanket tighter about himself, his brows scrunched uncomfortably together.

He’d thought these thoughts were long buried. Taken away once Jack finally admitted he loved him, agreed to live with him, agreed to have a baby with him.

Rhys managed to fall into a somewhat troubled nap, tossing and turning the most he could with his heavy belly weighing him down against the hammock. Despite the discomfort, he stayed asleep up until the point where warm lips brushed up against his temple, sending him fluttering awake.

“Morning, sunshine. Have fun with your cat nap?”

Jack’s voice tickled along his ear, sending a little shiver through his body despite the anxious little twist in his stomach that came when he opened his eyes and saw Jack’s handsome face looking down at him.

The fondness in his eyes was undeniable. But Rhys wondered how much he actually deserved it.

The floor thumped softly as Jack got on his knees besides the hammock, hands knitting into the intricate rope work suspending the bed as he leaned forward and nuzzled his nose against Rhys’ cheek. His nostrils flared, blowing his own scent over Rhys’ skin like it could shield him from danger. It did help ease Rhys’ nerves somewhat, even coming from the main source of his worry.

“You’re such a pretty little thing, bundled up like this. Almost didn’t want to disturb ya, but it’s been a good couple of hours since I’ve seen those pretty eyes and I just _had_ to.”

“That’s always your excuse for waking me up…” Rhys mumbled softly, wrapping his arms about his chest, elbows resting on either side of his belly. He glanced at Jack, expectant, but the alpha didn’t make a move or say anything further. He just sat, half-leaning against the hammock, looking at Rhys’ like he was the most important thing on the entire planet.

Rhys blushed under the unconditional attention, fidgeting softly even when Jack started to pet his arm, eventually drifting up to where the omega’s hand rested on the underside of his stomach. The touch made him squirrelly, Jack’s sudden presence bringing to the forefront all the things he’d been trying to distance himself from in his nap. 

“Jack, wait…” He stopped him as Jack tried to tug the hem of his blue shirt up and over his stomach. It was a surefire sign the alpha was about to get lost in feeling his belly and the movements of his pup for the next couple of minutes, but Rhys felt seized with an urgency that he needed to get this out now.

“What’s up?” Jack patted the hem back down, though he kept his hands on Rhys’ stomach as he peered up curiously at his mate. Rhys swallowed.

“I need…”

“What, sugar? You got one of those pesky cravings? Cause you know you can just buzz the chef and he’ll whip you up anything you want—“

“N-no, no, it’s not food…” Lunch did sound good. But Rhys couldn’t put this off any longer, lest it disturb what was supposed to be his last pre-baby vacation further.

“Then what, babe? You know you can tell me anything.

“Okay. Um. First can you help me uh…get to the bed?” Rhys would rather be laying down besides Jack when he broached this.

“I can do you one better, kitten.” Jack stuck out his arms, slipping them underneath Rhys’ body despite the omega’s blush and half-hearted protests. He made a big show about hoisting Rhys up into his arm, earning an annoyed pout from the omega. Jack fixed his posture with a sheepish smile, carrying Rhys over to the bed and gently laying him down on his side, facing towards the window and the softly swaying hammock.

Jack sat down on the other side of the bed, looking down at the reclining omega for a moment before he flopped down besides him, sending the bed bouncing. Rhys wondered what it was made out of. He wondered if Jack could tell him.

_First things first._

“Okay, so…you remember what we talked about a couple months ago?”

Rhys wasn’t dumb. He came laden with baggage and he’d wanted to make sure Jack knew it might spring up occasionally if they wanted to be together.

Jack had been cool with it at the time, assuring Rhys that he’d be there to listen whenever he needed it. Which was all nice talk that had placated him and made him feel better in the moment. But he’d never really taken Jack up on that request yet. To talk about sticky feelings.

“Oh, yeah. I remember.”

But if they were going to raise a baby together, he needed to do this.

“I…I think I wanna cash in that chip now.”

“Sure thing, kiddo. Shoot.”

Rhys fidgeted with the hem of his loose fitting shirt, though loose didn’t seem to apply to him anymore. He’d grown so much that even his biggest clothes seemed to cling to him. Sometimes the hem bunched up at the underside of his belly, rubbing against his skin uncomfortably. He could probably get away with going about the mansion naked, though the thought of doing so in front of the servants, even if they were paid to tolerate any shenanigans he and Jack might get up to, was a little too much.

He flattened the curling hem against his stomach, taking a deep breath and feeling his middle expand softly in response.

“I….I’m just not sure…I realized that you haven’t…that we didn’t…”

Jack tapped his finger against Rhys’ hip, though his eyes held a surprising amount of patience.

“That we haven’t…well…bonded yet.”

Rhys closed his eyes tight, too scared to look at Jack’s expression. Even hearing his voice was almost too much as Jack cleared his throat, sounding bemused.

“Kitten…I…”

“Oh god, just forget it,” Rhys moaned, covering his face with his hands as he burrowed his chin towards his chest, suddenly wanting to disappear. “Just forget I asked.”

Strong hands, gentled with concern, grasped lightly at his wrists. Rhys let Jack pull his hands away from his face, though he didn’t open his eyes until Jack’s lips softly pressed against his lids. He opened them one by one, Jack’s softly smiling face slowly coming back into view as if he’d just switched up the resolution.

“Is that why you wanted me to go out today, sugar? You were worrying about…something like that?”

“Well, I didn’t want an antsy alpha on my hands either. You needed to get out and stretch your legs.”

Jack’s fingers stroked against the inside of his wrist, as if wanting to calm his pulse. Rhys shifted gently, adjusting his belly’s position against the sheets.

“So….um…what do you think?”

“About bonding?”

“Yeah.”

“I…I didn’t.”

Rhys stomach sank slightly.

“ _Oh_.”

“W-Wait, hold on, it’s not that I’m…I…I guess I just didn’t _think_ about it.”

Rhys snorted, eyes falling to Jack’s throat.

“Don’t _lie_.”

The alpha’s Adam’s apple bobbed indignantly.

“I’m not!”

“You’re an alpha…bonding is like…end game for you guys just like it is for us.”

“Hmm, always figured my end game was like, ruling the universe or something.”

Rhys puffed softly, glancing back up to Jack.

“There’s still plenty of time to do that.”

“No conquering for you ’til _after_ you push out that pup, sugar.” Jack pointedly brushed his hand over Rhys’ belly. “Though maybe I’ll let ya blow up a camp or two if you get _real_ antsy.”

“I don’t think I find destroying as cathartic as you do…ice cream and blackmail is how I get my kicks.”

“Pfft. Typical omega. All about sweets n’ sabotage.”

“I’d like to call you a typical alpha, but if you’re more set on world domination than bonding, well…” Rhys was teasing, but a kernel of worry sprung up in him at the idea that maybe Jack _was_ more interested in personal conquests rather than personal _relationships_.

Jack shook his fingers through his hair, one eyebrow kinked up in thought.

“Man. I guess I _have_ been thinking about it a bit. I just…hm. I dunno.”

“What? You know this talking things out stuff goes both ways.” Rhys reached out to pet his forearm. Jack got the hint, scooting in closer until his torso just about brushed up against Rhys’ belly. The omega lightly laced their fingers together as Jack reached forward with his other hand to to brush the loose hair away from Rhys temple.

“I guess I just didn’t want to pressure you, babe. I know there’s been…well”

Jack’s hand settled softly against the side of Rhys’ face, the omega reaching up to cover it with his own free palm.

“Stuff.”

Jack sniffed.

“That’s putting it lightly.”

Rhys rubbed Jack’s hand with his thumb, enjoying their combined weight against his cheek.

“I know there’s been….stuff, there’s always gonna be _stuff_ but…well, I…I think…”

Rhys took as deep a breath as he could with his stomach weighing against him.

“I’m not exactly _opposed_ to it.”

“Me neither.”

“There’s not really….a reason _not_ to do it, then. Is there?”

“Unless you’re scared.”

Scared wasn’t really the word Rhys would use. Apprehensive, maybe. This wasn’t like how it had been with Hugo. If things went wrong he couldn’t end it as easily as he’d ended it with his ex—and he struggled to even call that _easy_. If something happened, or if Jack decided further down the line he didn’t want him, he didn’t know he could survive that. Especially after bonding.

“Maybe a little.”

“Well, good thing I’m never scared.” Jack gave the hand between them a reassuring squeeze as that beaming smile blossomed across his face for a moment, before fading into something softer. “I’ve got enough courage for the both of us.”

Jack slid the palm against Rhys’ cheek out from under his hand, trailing down his jawline to carefully take the omega’s chin between his fingers.

“It’s not hurting you, is it? I mean…I’m not a _big_ expert on omega stuff but I got that bonding has an affect on pregnancy…you seemed and smelled pretty happy, sugar, so I didn’t…”

“Oh no, no I’ve been…I’ve been fine, really…” Rhys assured with a slight wave of his hand. “I haven’t really noticed any….major isolation or sadness or anything like that…stuff that you worry about during un-bonded pregnancy…you’ve been great, really.”

“Good. I mean, of course I’ve been great.”

Jack wasn’t wrong. They were vacationing in a testament built to show off how great Jack was. Rhys had never felt so spoiled before.

He curled his knees up slight, thighs nudging up against the underside of his belly as he sought a slightly more comfortable position. Rhys looked down between them, the ample blue mound of his stomach bridging the gap between him and his lover.

So many omegas he’d spoken to over the years couldn’t fathom the idea of getting pregnant _before_ bonding. They’d given him an earful, usually after he accidentally let spill that he was a single father. All he really knew about its sanctity seemed to come from other people who thought it to be the _real_ beginning of life between an alpha and omega. But he and Jack had already long begun their life together before thoughts of bonding even seriously entered each other’s head. Their relationship had endured so much, remained solid even without the support of the bond. Hell, his body had carried one, almost two children without it.

_Maybe he’d been stronger than he’d thought._

“You…you’d really want this, right?” He ventured. “You’re not just…saying you want to bond because I brought it up, right?”

Jack shrugged.

“Bond, no bond, as long as I’m with you. If you wanna do it, then I’m up for it. If not, then it’s fine too.” Jack winked. “You’re not the only one who bucks the trend on what endotypes are supposed to do.”

Rhys worried his lip.

“Maybe, well…I don’t think I _need it_ , but…I am interested in experiencing what it feels like to be bonded and pregnant. I hear it’s like a natural _high_.” Rhys wiggled his toes. “Might help me feel better about my sore back and feet. You’d probably be on massage duty a little less.”

“Aw, but I _love_ getting my hands on you.”

“You still can,” Rhys sung softly, stroking his fingers up and down Jack’s chest. “But it…it might be fun. To bond. Is what I’m saying.”

“Just say the word, babe.”

In the past few months, almost _year_ now—Rhys wouldn’t let Jack forget about their anniversary even if they might be knee deep in feedings and diaper changing at the time—the alpha had proved himself caring and trustworthy over and over again. Rhys couldn’t forget that in his trepidation. He couldn’t let himself give into his own insecurity any longer, not when Jack was being honest about his own feelings and need with him.

“Okay then.” Rhys stated, feeling his chest flutter as the words left his lips. “I want to do it. I want to bond.”

Jack leaned his chest forward, keeping mind of Rhys’ belly as he wrapped his lover up in his arms as best as he could, peppering kisses all over his forehead.

“That’s perfect, sugar. Just swell.” Jack pulled back to grin down at Rhys, who met him with a smaller, equally tender smile.

“Yeah?”

“Oh yeah. When do you want me to do it? You need me to roll out the red carpet, pour you champagne, or something like that?”

“No.” Rhys leaned up to brush their noses together. “I just need you to love me. Um. While you do it.”

“Heh. Easy-peasy, cupcake.”

Jack started to move, sitting up and leaning over Rhys. The omega rolled half onto his back before Jack managed to claim his lips, hands planting on either side of the bed around him. Rhys flushed deep as they parted, deeper when Jack’s hand brushed against his inner thigh.

“Now?”

Jack scented him from ear to chin, chuffing softly against his lips as he met Rhys’ eyes.

“We’ve got a beautiful view and the sea air breezing in. Birdies chirping in the trees. You’re in your awesome boyfriend’s billion dollar mansion that he built _just_ for you. _And_ we’re the only people that matter for hundreds of miles around. It’s as good a time now as any.”

Despite the talk of bonding and their own building eagerness, Jack still took the time to work him up with kissing and foreplay before moving on to the main event. His throat blossomed with light bruises that dripped down to his collar by the time his alpha set about divesting him of his clothing. He let Jack strip him completely naked, rolling his shirt up and over his head before shaking the stretchy pants free from his ankles. Jack had a bad habit of tossing his clothes carelessly on the floor, but Rhys saved the chiding for later. He had more important things to concern himself with, chief among them the warmth of Jack’s crotch against his bare rear and the hot damp of his mouth against the back of his neck.

Jack stuck a pillow in the customary position between Rhys’ belly and knees. It had been awhile since they’d had sex in this particular position, considering how large and uncomfortable Rhys had gotten, but with the idea of _bonding_ set into his bones, it just felt _right_ to be on his hands and knees with his alpha at his back.

The breeze from the open window swirled about the room, cooling the skin not heated by the friction of their bodies, providing a contrast that made Rhys shiver. His belly rubbed against the sheets as Jack carefully placed his hands upon his lower back, balancing himself as he slid his own pants down around his hips. Rhys shuddered softly as he felt the warm head of Jack’s cock, already wet with pre-cum, rub against his rear.

“You ready for me?”

Rhys nodded.

“Yeah.”

Jack’s cock slid in, so easily that in no time he’d rooted himself in up to the balls. Rhys purred happily at the weight inside of him, familiar and constant despite how his own weight had grown. He rutted softly back into Jack’s hips, encouraging the alpha to press closer to him. Jack responded in kind, rubbing his chest and stomach up against Rhys’ curved back. He kissed his shoulder, brushing his teeth against his skin. Rhys could feel the length of his canines, already pushed out from his gums in excitation of their instincts.

Sex might not be necessary to bonding but it helped Rhys relax in the face of what was coming. Having Jack’s weight against him, a familiar feeling inside of him, helped keep him calm and aroused and open to the idea of this man officially taking him as his mate. He gripped the sides of the pillow underneath him, rubbing his cheek against the silky case as he looked up at Jack with one eye, not wanting to lose sight of his alpha up until the point where he leaned in to bite and bind himself to Rhys.

It wasn’t long before he felt the familiar swell of a knot start to work open his entrance, more slick spilling out in answer. His heart leapt in his chest as Jack panted against his neck, fuzzy and unsure whether each breath might quickly come down in a bite that would change his life forever. His toes curled, fingers tensing into the pillow beneath his head.

_There’s still time to back out_ , the voice in the back of his head needled. His eyelid fluttered half closed, straining slightly against the pleasure rocking through his body.

Hugo had talked about bonding on occasion, but as a joke, as something to dangle over Rhys’ head. The idea had laid about their relationship like a trap, a net to spring and catch Rhys’ leg lest he misbehave. 

But now he wanted it. He really wanted it.

He could be Jack’s, but Jack could be _his_ , too. It wasn’t a trap, wasn’t a game, wasn’t born from pity. They laid on the same playing field, chest to back, heart to heart on the bed. Jack wanted this.

Rhys wanted this. 

“Jack….Jack….do it.”

Rhys’ chest hitched at the scrape of teeth against the throbbing, sensitive gland at the back of his neck, still untouched despite everything that Rhys had been through. His bonding site had never been something he’d consciously protected, but as Jack prepared to bite down on it he became more aware of it then he’d ever been—aware it’s something he couldn’t take back, couldn’t redo, couldn’t fix once it was broken.

It filled him with anticipation.

_“Do it.”_

The teeth at his neck were like light bursting through a patch of clouds—as fangs popped into his flesh and punctured his bonding site he was suddenly awash with a warmth spreading outwards from the bite, tingling like fire from the nape of his neck all the way down to his tailbone and out through his nerves to the ends of his fingers and even down to the tips of his toes. His mouth hung open in a reedy, lingering moan as he clutched the pillow to his face. He bit out the whine in the fabric of his pillow, the sound loud and insistent even when muffled by the damp fabric of the case torn between his teeth.

He didn’t know how much time has passed before he felt the warmth of Jack’s tongue licking at the back of his neck, the brush of it over the punctures in his flesh tingling and warm instead of stinging. Only the slight tug in his ass, filtering through the dizzy bliss, reminded him that Jack had even knotted him

“You still in there, Rhysie?” Jack breathed, and as the feelings flooding his body settled deep within his bones, wrapping inextricably around him like a part of his flesh,

“I can feel you…”

“I would sure hope so, pumpkin, considering I’m knot deep inside.”

“N-No…not just that…”

Rhys took a long breath, deeply aware of the feeling of air filling his lungs as he inhaled Jack’s scent, the alpha in his blood, in his air, against his skin.

“I…I feel you everywhere.”

Jack kissed around the tender skin of the bite, his hands coming to rest tenderly atop Rhys’ forearms.

“How does it feel, Rhysie? Good?”

“ _Yes_.”

Jack huffed, softly, and Rhys almost heard a hint of relief. 

“Right back at you.”

They spend the rest of the afternoon curled up in bed, exploring each other without need for touch, enjoying the pleasure of presence with little insistence. When Rhys finally let Jack help him to his feet, he walked with a new delicacy in his step, the burden he’d grown used to carrying inside of him now shared across two shoulders. They ate dinner on the porch, hips brushing together on the plush couch as they watched the sunset together. Rhys swore he could almost smell the colors streaking like candy through the peppered clouds of the sky, his sensesfine-tuned, as if a shroud he’d never known to exist had finally been lifted from around his face.

He leaned against his mate, head resting on his shoulder as Jack’s arm wound about his waist, hand splayed across the side of his belly. They felt like a pool of gold melting together, thoughts and feeling bleeding into one another as they watched the sun slowly dip below the horizon.

Rhys smiled gently, letting Jack’s emotions wash over him, winding with his own like a sturdy rope holding them through the bond. Calm washed over him, like the waves rolling against the shoreline far below, all previous worries ironed away and leaving him with nothing but bliss and hope as he looked ahead, already glowing with the promise of this new stage in their relationship. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What did you guys think? Let me know, and hang tight for the epilogue coming soon!


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